The Allington Centre
The Allington Centre is a 20 bed low secure inpatient service for forensic services. We specialise in the assessment and treatment of adults with complex mental health needs, who require care in a low secure setting, in response to offending, risky and/or challenging behaviours.
The ward includes a high dependency area of five beds for the assessment and treatment of those exhibiting disturbed behaviour. There is also a 15 bedded area (LSU) focusing on assessment, treatment and rehabilitation.
Patients are admitted to the area considered to be best suited to meet their current need. All rooms are ensuite and there are provisions for wheelchair users.
Our large multidisciplinary team consists of health care assistants, nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers, speciality doctors, a family engagement and liaison lead; and chaired by our responsible clinicians/consultants.
Care and treatment is designed on an individual basis, and we encourage the involvement of our patients, their relatives and carers in the decision making process as much as possible.
Family Engagement and Liaison Lead
The Family Engagement and Liaison Lead (FELL) works specifically with the families and friends of someone who is being assessed or treated by forensic mental health and learning disability services. The Family Engagement and Liaison Lead will be able to offer you advice, support and information. Part of the role will be to meet up and give you time to talk about your own concerns and questions, throughout your relative or friends recovery. Click her to view more details about the The Family Engagement and Liaison Lead
Visiting
Given the nature of the unit, we ask that all visits are booked at least 24 hours in advance with a member of the nursing team and approved by the clinical team. Visitors are restricted to two adults and maybe limited to an hour should there be high demand on our visiting facilities.
Monday – Friday from 6.30–8.30pm
Weekends and public holidays from 2.15-5pm and 6.30-8.30pm
Anyone experiencing difficulty arranging transport to visit their relative in hospital may apply to their carer support worker or social worker who will consider individual circumstances.
For your safety and the safety of our patients and staff, certain items are restricted from entering the ward environment.
These include but are not limited to:
- razors
- knives or any other bladed items
- sharp objects e.g. scissors, needles, pens, nail files, mirrors
- firearms
- blu tac or chewing gum
- alcohol or stimulant drinks i.e. Red Bull and espresso coffee
- illicit substances such as legal highs
- pornographic or violent materials e.g. DVDs, books, CDs, magazines
- mobile phones/smart watches
- items that could be used as a ligature
- all types of plastic bags, aerosols, tin cans, glass items
- cameras, video recorders or any other recording equipment.
We do however advise that you liaise with the ward staff, who are able to advise you on specific items which may not be listed.
Protecting our patients
When visiting any of our inpatient wards you must wash your hands, follow our 2m social distancing policy and wear a face covering where required to do so.
Wards may insist upon other individual arrangements to help protect you during your visit. We advise for all visitors to contact the ward staff ahead of their visit to check for further guidance.
Further information can be found on our website here
Arrangements for under 18’s to visit
We are aware that child visits can be important for both the patient and the child concerned. Before child visits can be take place, all people holding parental responsibility for the child will be required to give written consent for the visit to take place.
Social Services will also be contacted to check that there are no specific concerns about the child that may affect whether they can visit. We will work as quickly as possible to ensure these checks take place in a timely manner.
No-one under the age of 18 can visit a relative on the ward; however we do have family visiting rooms. Children’s visits must be pre-booked in order that we can ensure the child visiting facility is free. A member of staff may be in the room with you, or observing the visit from outside the room.
Additionally, we have Skype - an internet based system which allows you to call family and friends anywhere in the world, over the internet, for free. If you would like to use Skype, this can be discussed with the team and booked through nursing staff with a convenient date and time.
Our family engagement and liaison lead is available to provide more information, including our “Guide for Virtual Visitors” which gives you step-by-step instructions for setting up Skype, even if you haven’t used it before.
Meet the manager
Your feedback is important to the team so that we can continue to improve our services.
You can feedback directly to Martha Makwara, Ward manager, to share your experiences and let him know how they are doing as a care group.
To arrange a meeting please email martha.makwara@nhs.net
Ask Listen Do
This is a film by NHS England for people with a learning disability, autistic people, families and carers which can help when giving feedback, raising a concern or making a complaint.