Psychological Services – Acute Inpatient Care, St George’s Park – Patient information leaflet

Information about psychological services on Alnmouth, Warkworth and Embleton adult acute admission wards at St George’s Park Hospital.

This leaflet may not be reproduced in whole or in part, without the permission of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

  • Introduction

    This leaflet tells you about what support is available from psychological services on the acute mental health wards at St Georges Park hospital.

    The service consists of three wards for adults experiencing acute mental health problems:
    – Alnmouth: female ward
    – Warkworth: male ward
    – Embleton: male ward

  • Psychological services

    Psychological services are made up of:
    – Clinical Psychologists
    – Psychological Therapists
    – Art Psychotherapists
    – Assistant Psychologists

  • What we do

    Psychology sessions may be helpful during your admission.
    Psychology helps people understand and cope better with lots of different issues, such as:
    – Difficulties managing emotions
    – Feeling depressed or low in mood
    – Feeling anxious or experiencing panic attacks
    – Hearing voices or having unusual experiences
    – Experiencing distressing or traumatic events
    – Self harm or suicidal thoughts
    – Managing Anger
    – Difficulties in relationships with other people

    We can help you think about problems you have and talk about things that might help.

  • Art Psychotherapy

    Art Psychotherapists help people think about and express their feelings by using different kinds of art.

    Art can help you express feelings that you might find hard to talk about.
    Making a piece of art can help you understand yourself and your past experiences.

    You don’t have to be good at art to have a go.

    Art therapy can be done on your own or in a group.

    If you want to try art therapy you can ask the ward staff who will plan for someone to come and meet you.

  • On the ward

    Individual sessions
    – Assessment – psychology staff may meet with you to conduct further assessments around your difficulties and to help determine what support may be helpful both in hospital and in the community.
    – Formulation – formulation can be used to improve your understanding of your strengths and difficulties and to help break your problems down into different parts.
    – Therapy or skills-based sessions:
    Depending on your needs, psychological services may offer therapy or skills-based session during your inpatient stay, or may make suggestions about what could be helpful for you in the community.

    Psycho-education Groups
    – On some wards Psychological services help to run groups.
    – Groups can help you to learn new skills or coping strategies to help manage your feelings.
    – You can ask nursing staff or activity workers about the groups running on the ward.

    Family Meetings
    Working with you and your family can be an important part of your recovery.
    Psychological services can meet with your family and help you communicate with them.

    Supporting staff
    Psychological services work closely with the ward staff to help support you, this may include attending meetings about your care or supporting with developing care plans informed by psychological approaches.
    We also complete research projects to help develop effective interventions and evaluate our services to help improve them

  • Feedback

    Here are things people have told us about what they found helpful from psychological services:

    “My confidence has grown.”

    “Improved wellbeing, less stressed as someone knows the extent of problems I face daily.”

    “Just that I had someone on my side for a change.”

    “Having someone to confide in about frustrations and problems I face.”

  • Confidentiality

    Everything you tell us is kept confidential within the service.

    This means we only share information with other people involved in your care unless we were to be worried about the safety of yourself or others.

  • Supporting you to leave hospital

    When you are close to being discharged from the ward we may meet with community services to handover your care. Sometimes we may develop a summary of the work you have completed with us to share with community services.

  • What if I have a comment, suggestion, compliment or complaint about the service?

    If you want to make a comment, suggestion, compliment or complaint you can:
    – talk to the people directly involved in your care
    – ask a member of staff for a feedback form, or complete a form on the Trust
    website www.cntw.nhs.uk/contact/complaints/
    – telephone the Complaints Department Tel: 0191 245 6672
    – email [email protected]

    Please note that information sent to the Trust via email is sent at your own risk

    We are always looking at ways to improve services. Your feedback allows us to monitor the quality of our services and act upon issues that you bring to our attention.

    You can provide feedback in the following ways:
    – the quickest way for you to do this is to complete our short online survey at www.cntw.nhs.uk/poy
    – complete a Points of You survey, available on wards, reception areas or from
    staff
    – other options for sharing your feedback and experience

    www.cntw.nhs.uk/yourfeedback

    Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
    PALS provide confidential advice and support, helping you to sort out any concerns that you may have about any aspect of your or your loved ones care.

    We act independently when handling patient and family concerns, liaising with staff, managers and, where appropriate, relevant organisations, to negotiate prompt solutions. If necessary, we can also refer patients and families to specific local or national-based support agencies.

    North of Tyne
    Tel: 0800 032 0202
    Email: [email protected]
    Post: FREEPOST PALS

    9.00 am – 4.30 pm, Monday to Friday
    An answerphone is available at all times for you to leave a message. A member of the PALS team will aim to return your call as soon as possible.

  • Useful resources

    Self help leaflets – Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
    www.cntw.nhs.uk/selfhelp

    Mindfulness support and app
    www.calm.com

    Substance use support
    www.talktofrank.com

    Understanding voice-hearing
    understandingvoices.com

    Crisis support and suicidal thoughts
    www.samaritans.org

  • Other formats, references and review

    Further information about the content, reference sources or production of this leaflet can be obtained from the Patient Information Centre.

    This information can be made available in a range of formats on request (eg Braille, audio, larger print, easy read, BSL or other languages). Please contact the Patient Information Centre Tel: 0191 246 7288

    Published by the Patient Information Centre

    2023 Copyright, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

    Ref, PIC/788/1123 November 2023 V3

    www.cntw.nhs.uk Tel: 0191 246 7288

    Review date 2026