On 16 May 2025, ELFT colleagues received the silver award at the Homerton Patient Safety Conference.
Staff were praised for their proactivity to address all health needs of those experiencing a mental health crisis.
Staff from across the borough had found that the number of service users going to Homerton University Hospital with mental health needs increased considerably since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Studies have shown that those who need admitting to a mental health ward tend to stay longer in hospital than those with physical health issues. In the second half of 2024, the average length of stay for a mental health patient in Hackney was almost one and a half days on average – with the longest being five days.
During this period, colleagues acknowledged that the medical care of mental health patients needed focussing on as much as psychiatric needs.
Colleagues started a project to look into this further. Dr Russell Gritton, who is the Emergency Registrar at Homerton University Hospital, and Jemma Trotter, Psychiatric Liaison Nurse in the Homerton Psychological Medicines & Crisis Assessment Team, led this piece of work. They found that just under half of long-stay mental health patients were receiving daily medical reviews. On top of this, under 30% received their regular medication.
To improve this, Jemma Trotter developed a protocol identifying daily tasks for both medical and psychiatric teams within the emergency department. Dr Gritton sent regular emails to colleagues and set up teaching sessions to raise awareness of the issue, focussing on the importance of frequent medical checks and keeping up with prescribed medication.
The project has been successful. Recent figures have shown that 91% of long-stay patients are now receiving medical checks, going well beyond the initial target of 70%. In addition, 90% are also receiving their long-term medication.
Commenting on the project, Dr Gritton said: “It is really important to be keeping an eye on the physical health of our service users. In many cases, we find previously unidentified problems which we can diagnose, and start to get equity of care.”
“I am really pleased that the project has been recognised at the Patient Safety Conference, and I look forward to continuing this important piece of work.”
The next stage of the project is to promote the new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), a document outlining the steps for staff to follow when caring for mental health inpatients.
Jemma added: “Simple things such as access to shower rooms and having hot food delivered to long-stay patients used to be a challenge. However, formalising processes in the SOP means everybody now knows what can and can’t be done.”
If you would like to learn more about the work of colleagues to improve the experiences of long-stay service users in Hackney, you can contact Jemma at jemmatrotter@nhs.net.