Mendip Mental Health Ward Is Recognised For Highest Professional Standards, UK

Main Category: Mental Health
Also Included In: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 03 Dec 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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A Mendip mental health facility which assesses elderly people with dementia has received a much coveted accreditation award for its standards of care and management.

St Andrews Ward, located on the Priory Health Park in Wells, is a 26 bedded assessment / treatment unit for older adults and is managed by the county's lead provider of mental health services, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

At a presentation last month, staff from the ward were presented with 'Practice Development Unit Accreditation' certificates and a plaque to display, by Dr Jerry Warr, Reader in Practice Development from Bournemouth University.

The accreditation process has taken two years of intensive work for ward staff, undertaking extensive training and putting in place comprehensive monitoring systems to show they not only deliver best clinical practice to patients, but also have excellent governance arrangements, such a consistent and accurate record keeping.

Congratulating staff at St Andrew's Ward for their commitment and success, Ward Manager, Jan Rood, said: "It has taken a lot of hard work but we are delighted to know this ward as achieved independent accreditation of its standards by Bournemouth University. It's a challenging process and we have had to make sure everything we do is properly audited. This includes checking and measuring our performance and showing all we do has a direct clinical benefit for all our patients. Now we have met the accredited standard we have to keep up the good work in anticipation of our inspection and further accreditation in three years time."

Explaining how important accreditation of standards have now become for NHS organisations, Dr Jerry Warr, Reader in Practice Development from Bournemouth University, explained: "Accreditation of service standard sets a proven bench mark for excellence. The accreditation process Bournemouth University delivers is very thorough and lengthy. It culminates in a comprehensive report being sent in advance of a day-long visit carried out by our University assessors. When we visited, staff at St Andrew's they presented us with plenty of evidence of good professional practice and displayed good team working and client involvement."

Bournemouth University