Hospital Admissions and Early Discharges

[Oaktree]

@tyme @Shaz51 @Jynx @Ru-bee @TAB @StuF @Adge @Meowmy @Bill16 @Captain24 @Eve7 @Zoe7 @Appleblossom @Owlunar2 @Dimity @NatureLover @MJG017 

Whenever I have found myself in hospital and that has been a lot over the years. I have found that if you are not suicidal that they don’t want to admit you no matter how sick you actually are. This isn’t helpful because how are you supposed to access the help you need if you are too sick to be managed in the community but not sick enough according to the hospital. Also if they do admit you they only do very short admissions and discharge you way before you are ready leading to a revolving door. Wouldn’t it be better to keep patients a little longer until they were actually stable enough to cope in society. Although this may put a little pressure on the system to start with I think that you will find that less people will be needing admissions in the longer term because they wont be coming back through that revolving door. What do you guys think?

[Shaz51]

@Oaktree , @tyme , @Jynx 

Over the last few years my husband has taken himself to hospital at the last moment 3 times 

And because he took himself to hospital,  they only admit patients for a very  short term 

I agree it would of been better for support and what to do next but no he was sent home to cope, soo sad 

[Oaktree]

@Shaz51 

I really feel like the mental health system is letting consumers down in a lot of instances.

[Shaz51]

Also depends what the individual does too @Oaktree , @tyme 

My husband first admitted stayed for 2 weeks in hospital 

Then  the specialist said he can go home or have 2.more weeks of treatment 

Gave him a choice so he came home with no future inport 

[tyme]

I think what worked really well for me were Prevention and Recovery Centres. Back then, instead of an admission, we went to a Centre and stayed on average 4 weeks. It was amazing. I wonder if we just need more of these services? @Shaz51 @Oaktree 

But I hear what you are saying @Oaktree - so true when it comes to hospitals. I've had many experiences.

[Oaktree]

@tyme 

I found a 4 week stay at Neami National step up/step down so beneficial. We definitely need more of these sorts of places or beds.

[tyme]

Yes! That's what PARCs was - step up/step down @Oaktree . It was incredibly helpful. It was voluntary, empowering, peer supported....

In my area, they have cut it back to 2 weeks though which I don't think is enough.

[Oaktree]

Yes Neami National step up/step down have support workers and there was also a peer support worker on their staff as well. It is also voluntary but there is a waitlist to get in. They had a workbook that helped you identify your strengths and talents and also covered such things as goal setting etc

@tyme 

[tyme]

We came up with recovery goals and upon admission, we completed a Mental Health Recovery Star that looks at different aspects in our lives. 

We were assigned a key worker and there were staff 24/7. 

We had a calendar of activities for each day including psycheducation groups, social groups, chores etc.

After about 4 weeks, we completed another MH Recovery Star to see the difference between the initial star and the star upon discharge.

@Oaktree 

[Oaktree]

@tyme 

That all sounds very similar to what Neami offer. Also it is free. The accommodation was amazing. There were little units with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette, dining and lounge. There was also your own personal courtyard. They did a weekly inspection to make sure you were looking after the unit. It was amazing but you were encouraged to spend time in common areas as opposed to isolating in your unit