Issue 9

Down Your Street

The street will form the link and thorough fare between the five wards and the off-ward departments and support services. There are in fact two 'streets', South Street and East Street. South St meets East St at the point formed by the Art Therapy room and is the place were people get to and from reception.

On East St one can find Ogmore Ward, Penarth Ward, the Hairdressers, an Occupational Therapy office, the Patients Bank, the Psychology Department and the Occupational Therapy Department containing a workshop, classroom and library for patients. At the far end of East St there are sports facilities which include a hall, fitness suite and all weather floodlit outdoor playing surface. Also located on East Street is a kitchen for teaching patients cooking skills and the safe use of kitchens and equipment. There is a landscaped courtyard off East St for patients from Penarth Ward to gain access to fresh air and exercise. Toilets for patient and staff use are also located on East St.

South Street is the longest of the two streets and within this street one can find three wards and other support accommodation for patient and staff use. Upon entering South St one will find Newton Ward, Tenby Ward and Cardigan Ward, each of these wards has a landscaped garden for patient use. Also to be found on the street is the South Street Cafe. This cafe will hopefully prove to be a central meeting point for patients where they will be able to enjoy the company of fellow patients, hot beverages, soft drinks and snacks.

Social evenings and group activities will occur in the cafe and it offers an ideal venue for off ward recreational activities. The frequency with which the cafe is used will be dependant upon the willingness of clinical teams to encourage patients to be allowed to visit the cafe. This will need to be a decision taking at weekly clinical team meetings at which patients will be able to attend to make their requests in person.

A family visiting centre is located off South St and has facilities for families to stay overnight. Another off-ward visiting area is located off the street alongside a User Friendly Group office, a staff rest room and staff smoking room. There is also a very large workshop for patients to learn skills and crafts. On South St one can also find a number of patient and staff toilets and storage rooms.

The resources on offer within the new clinic are a huge improvement upon the resources available within the old Caswell Clinic. The new clinic will offer greater opportunity for patients to engage in meaningful therapeutic activity provided off-ward and within a structured but flexible programme which can be accessed by patients when needed. The provision of such programmes will prove equally challenging to both patients and staff and both groups will need to work together to design programmes that can benefit patients by providing purposeful activities at times patients need them. I hope we will all find that it is "just down our street".

By Barry Topping-Morris, previous Head of Forensic Nursing