First of all, 1804 - I can see you in a Ronnie Corbett chair (and jumper) enthralling your grandchildren of tales from the mental health unit around an open fire
To be honest, most of the 'events' I witnessed had an element of poor staffing and/or management associated with them.
I worked mostly in a well known forensic mental health establishment. Part old Victorian buildings and part fabulous new buildings. The staff were fairly good here and I rarely saw any staff alarms operated despite the very severe mental health issues that some clients presented with. The new build had a central 'High Street' with communal facilities such a cafe, shop and even a hairdressers (with the usual scissors etc you would find anywhere). This was an excellent place for staff and clients - and their relatives
But I also worked in my local MH Unit attached to a General Hospital. It was also in a new building that was a cheap and cheerful PFI effort. They installed a wireless fire detection system, ignorant that the dry walling in the unit was strengthened by steel mesh thereby screening multiple heads. That took weeks to fix. Door holders were overheating regularly and door closers were Chinese rubbish. But the PFI contract meant the NHS paid for repairs. There was hardly any natural light and no independent staircase for those upstairs to reach smoking areas outside, so an a
The staff and management here were shocking. So much so, I reported one guy - a senior nurse who was in a nurses station (separate room) reading a newspaper and ignoring a female client who wanted to talk to him in the most undignified manner that I wont go into here. Many of the staff where openly confrontational and rather than de-escalate events - their attitude tended to intentionally escalate issues in a way that wasnt needed
But the worse thing there was the over use of the staff alarms. In one two hour training session, I lost staff three times who responded to such alarms. That was never the case in the 6 other hospitals I worked at
I loved working in Mental Health as the challenges would certainly keep you on your feet. I worked with some amazing people (including 1804), but also witnessed poor staffing behaviour. With a shortage of MH Nurses in the UK, management seem very reluctant to discipline
One last thing, when a firefighter with a huge mental health hospital on our patch, one of the other shifts attended a fire there only to be turned away by a Doctor in a white coat and Porter at the gates who told the arriving crews it was a fire drill. Er......... it wasnt!!! The crews were called back after staff saw them leaving......whoops! There was plenty of Mickey taking of that crew after - but we all learned a valuable lesson about trust
