The experience of people admitted to psychiatric wards at Prospect Park Hospital in Berkshire

This report presents findings of a unique patient experience project. For the first time, all six local Healthwatch in Berkshire worked together, to visit and capture views of people staying as inpatients at Prospect Park Hospital in Reading, run by the county’s main mental health provider, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BHFT).

The six Healthwatch used their statutory Enter and View function to jointly request and obtain prior agreement of Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to visit.

Healthwatch teams asked patients to complete an anonymous survey and/or to take part in one-to-one or group conversations. The six Healthwatch spoke to 41 adults (24 female, 17 male), a mix of voluntary or ‘sectioned’ inpatients, completed surveys, plus eight people took part in a group talk. The main findings included: 81% of people (29 out of 36) said they felt hospital staff treated them with dignity and respect; 80% of people (32 out of 40) said they had not been given a date for their discharge from hospital; 75% of people (30 out of 40) said they took part in activities at the hospital; 69% of people (27 out of 39) said they had been told about their right to have an independent mental health advocate (IMHA); 67% of people (27 out of 41) said they had been in contact with a community service before coming into hospital; 62% (24 out of 39) people said they had not had their care and treatment plan explained to them in hospital.

The report contains 10 recommendations and includes a formal response joint response from Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and CCGs.