Enabling Environments are places where there is a focus on creating a positive and effective social environment and where healthy relationships are seen as the key to success.
To achieve the award, Knightstone Ward, a 15-bed service for women at Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke, had to meet and exceed ten core standards based on; Belonging, Boundaries, Communication, Development, Involvement, Safety, Structure, Empowerment, Leadership and Openness.
A portfolio of evidence was put together in partnership with current and previous service users, and all disciplines within the multidisciplinary team (MDT). An assessor from the Royal College of Psychiatrists then spent a day on the ward speaking with staff and service users and gathering further evidence.
All of the evidence was then presented to a panel at the Royal College of Psychiatrists who made the final decision to give the award to the ward, which provides assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for women with personality disorder and complex needs.
Karl Jose Solang Balansay, Lead Specialty Doctor at Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke, explained: “We started our Enabling Environment accreditation because we wanted to showcase the great work that was already being done on Knightstone by both staff and service users. We really value co-production and strive to create a ward which feels like a home away from home.”
It took the team a year and a half to compile the evidence necessary for achieving this award, but Dr Solang Balansay said the team remained motivated throughout the process.
He added: “We needed to show the great work that Knightstone does, and with a little nudge here and there and collaboration from the multidisciplinary team we were able to complete our evidence.
“Achieving the award gave validation not just to the staff who work on the ward, but also to the service users who we work side by side with, to show that this is what we do on a daily basis.
“It made us feel proud that we continue to develop, adapt and co-produce to create an environment that is not only therapeutic, enabling and safe, but, to make it feel like a home away from home.
“The team on Knightstone strive to continue perusing, learning and spearheading change not only on the ward, but throughout the whole of Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke.”
The accreditation report read: “It was great to see the personal touches that the service made to resident’s rooms to create a sense of belonging. The approach to induction, both formal and informal is an area of strength.
“During the visit it was clear that the staff team members have good relationships with each other. The management of the hospital have placed a strong emphasis on positive culture, encouraging the uptake of ‘compassionate leadership’, empowering ward managers and supporting initiatives.
“The service’s attitude to positive risk consideration and management is exemplary, both for service users and staff. This was a great illustration of how deep consideration of environmental factors, alongside therapeutic interventions can have much better outcomes.
“The renewed effort to ensure that there is a personalised approach to care management, through initiatives like the Diamond Framework, calm cards, positive box is embedding a necessary psychologically safe environment.
“There was a genuinely impressive array of activities, both on the ward and at the hospital. Such things like Kewstock festival, really provide a wider community environment for service users and staff alike.”
Feedback also included praise for the ward’s anti-racism initiatives, the involvement of Experts by Experience within the ward (those with lived experience), the Freedom to Speak Up culture and the “well maintained and welcoming” environment of the ward.