Update on Violence Reduction Work

Within Older People Services there are a number of initiatives being tried and tested in order to reduce violence and aggression on our wards. MHCOP have set up a Directorate Project Group to oversee the work and three wards with the highest levels of violence were identified to be designated pilot areas. The testing wards are Sally Sherman (East Ham Care Centre), Cedar and Larch (both at The Lodge in Hackney). Both Sally Sherman ward and Cedar are Continuing Care Wards and Larch is an Acute Admission Ward.

For each ward there are a number of key individual staff who are committed to taking this quality improvement work forward and attend a local project group every two weeks.

On Larch and Cedar Ward intentional rounding was tested initially on an hourly basis and later adapted to two hourly due to feedback from service users. This has now been implemented as part of operational practice, with regular audits to ensure that it is still taking place and that service user’s needs are being met.

There is also the development of a sensory room on Cedar and patients are taken on a one to one basis for relaxation. This room is gradually being developed to meet the different needs of the service users. The room is kitted out with a diffuser (for aromatherapy) plus water and light features.

Also there is a lot of emphasis on music and dance and there are now regular times in the week when the Activity Co-ordinator runs a session and patients join in either by singing, dancing, tapping to the music with their feet, or in some cases using instruments such as tambourines or triangles. It is a delight to walk into the lounge and experience a session in full swing and all service users participating in some form or another.

 On Sally Sherman Ward, staff are focusing on providing daily activities either on the ward or in the therapy suite on the ground floor. Each day half of the service users  go down to the activity centre and join in a variety of stimulating activities that are being run and the service users who stay on the ward are encouraged to participate in their own ‘ life stories’ or other forms of stimulation. On the ward the service users are taken into the multisensory room on an individual basis whereby each person has their own programme devised which has been specifically written to meet their needs. Almost all the staff on the ward are now trained in the use of the programme in the sensory room and as a result service users can enjoy the benefits on a more regular basis.

Days between incidents of physical violence across all 3 testing wards

Days between staff injury due to physical violence