You Said, We Did.
Healthwatch Bristol Report of feedback gathered from Kids Co Drop In at The Island, Bristol.
Report Author: Ellen Devine, Healthwatch Bristol Development Officer.
Purpose of this report:
1)To summarise the feedback received by Healthwatch Bristol from young people, staff and volunteers at the Kids Co Bristol Drop In.
2)To make recommendations based on the feedback given.
3)To highlight areas of good practice and service user satisfaction.
Contents of report:
Section 1: Details of the event
Section 2: Summary of feedback
Section 3: Healthwatch Next Steps
Section 4: Future work
Section 1: Details of the event
Date of Drop In:28th July 2014
Location: The Island, Bristol
Healthwatch Aims: To hear from young people about their experiences of accessing and using health and social care services; to empower young people to be involved in health and social care services.
Summary of event:
Healthwatch and Kids Co
Ellen was invited to attend the Kids Co Drop in on Monday 28th July to listen to the young people about their experiences of accessing and using health and social care services. This report includes the feedback given to Healthwatch by the attendees, details of plans for future work between Healthwatch and Kids Co. Feedback was recorded, with the commentator’s permission, by Ellen. People were also given leaflets to take away so they could give feedback at a later date.
About Kids Co
The following is taken from the Kids Co Website (
Bristol is a city of considerable deprivation. The number of children living in poverty is well above the national average and the city continues to have a rising number of young people going into care*. Kids Company Bristol was opened in January 2013 to provide support to these challenges, and is the first replication of our model of youth work and education outside of London.
Kids Company Bristol has grown rapidly since its launch, and we now operate out of five centres across the city, as well as providing therapeutic and social work services to four schools in some of the most deprived areas.
About the Kids Co Drop In
The Island is a street level drop-in centre situated in the heart of Bristol. The centre provides a comprehensive package of care to exceptionally vulnerable young people aged between 0 and 23, most of who refer themselves or are referred by their peers. The services provided at the centre are assessed, designed and delivered according to the individual service user.
Section 2: Summary of feedback
*All feedback is from young people attending the drop in, unless otherwise specified.
Midwifery and Health Visitors:
-Commentator had recently given birth at St Michael’s Hospital and described the care as “good”
-Commentator felt that the healthvisitors have been supportive, but she worries about being honest with them about her difficulties with bulimia and self-harm for fear of them judging her. Commentator said she wished she could tell health professionals: “don’t judge me that I will hurt my child, because I hurt myself, because those are two very different things”
Walk In Centres and 111:
-Commentator tried to use Broadmead Walk In Centre, but was told there were no appointment. This was confusing as it’s a Walk In Centre and commentator thought you didn’t need an appointment.
-Commentator is happy with Walk In Centre in Lawrence Weston. She attended with her son as she was concerned about his cough and they “put my mind at ease”.
-Commentator said 111 is very helpful with answering concerns about the health of her baby son.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS):
-Feedback provided by a parent: Commentator’s daughter was recently admitted to Bristol Children’s Hospital after she attempted suicide. She has liver damage. Her physical needs were addressed, but not her mental health needs. Prior to daughter being admitted, commentator had requested an appointment with CAMHS, but they hadn’t come back to her. Since her daughter was discharged from hospital, the commentator has continued to request an appointment with CAMHS, but has still been unable to get one.
-Commentator said that CAMHS “don’t want to talk”
-Feedback provided by health professional: Staff often feel pressurised to move mental health patients out of beds before they’re ready in order to make room for new patients; more early intervention work and funding is needed; patients are discharged too early or back into the communities/ lifestyle that was the focus of their addiction issues – this creates a ‘revolving door’ of service users being admitted, discharged and re-admitted.
Adult Mental Health Services:
-Feedback provided by volunteer at drop in:
-Commentator said adult mental health services don’t give much care and “have got worse over the last 20 years” during which time she was been a patient at various times. Her reasons are:
- Not enough staff and staff are stressed
- Patients are labelled and put into a box then only treated based on what the text book says about their diagnosis. As such the individual focus is lost even though this is what is needed
- Staff are driven by a fear of being sued, not by a focus on patient care
- When you are an inpatient in a mental health ward, you can’t actually talk about how you feel for fear of repercussions
- The more training a health professional has had, the least helpful they are
- Commentator feels there is a lack of trust and confidence from patients in health services
- Commentator is “traumatised” by previous experiences of treatment and now doesn’t want to access services
BRI:
-Commentator was a patient on Ward 11 of the BRI Old Building. He was 21 years old and has heart problems. He was placed on a general ward with older patients whose behaviour was often upsetting for him. The commentator reported that a Care Assistant would answer his mobile phone when he was supposed to be working. A nurse removed the commentator’s drip so he could go outside, but left it running. When the commentator returned, the nurse tried to blame their mistake on the commentator.
-Commentator was admitted to A&E at BRI after drinking a bottle of vodka. Commentator said he was “kicked out when I was still half cut” and that no-one spoke to him about whether he needed support or why he drank that much alcohol. Commentator said he “felt like an annoyance.”
-Commentator was admitted to BRI A&E after banging her head whilst drunk. She was not given any support for mental health issues.
Southmead Hospital:
-Commentator reported that some staff do not have adequate English skills. Commentator saw a consultant who needed a translator and commentator felt this was inappropriate.
-Commentator had attended Southmead Hospital A&E and heard staff referring to the corridors – which were full of trolleys with patients on – as “the cross roads”. Commentator reported that people were being forgotten about whilst they waited to be seen.
Kids Co Drop In:
-Commentator said that Kids Co Drop In deserves more funding as they “hand out the support people need”, the staff are good as “they actually give a crap about us” and it feels like a “family”. Commentator said that “if this place didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have a house.”
-Two commentators described the drop in as “great” and had received support with allowances, getting ID, general support and signposting.
-Many young people attending the drop in commented that they valued the drop in and felt listened to by the staff.
GP Surgeries and voluntary sector services:
-Commentator said that her GP had prescribed medication for depression and referred her to Off the Record. Commentator does not feel that one appointment each week with Off the Record is enough as “a lot happens in a week”.
-Feedback provided by Studio 7 who are an organisation supporting young people through creating music (based at The Station):
- there is a lack of support for voluntary sector staff who are working with young people struggling with mental health issues
- there is a need for more counsellors in schools and mediation work between pupils being bullied and the people doing the bullying
- there should be a mental health nurse in each surgery for young people to get help
Main themes in feedback:
Mental Health:
-stigma around mental health issues and lack of awareness of bullying and its effects on mental health
-CAMHS is inaccessible to many young people
-Young People receiving treatment in A&E are not being referred to CAMHS or offered mental health support
-More training and support is needed for voluntary sector staff working with young people with mental health issues
Other:
-Young People value the support offered by the Kids Co Drop In as they feel listened to
Demographic Information:
Approximately 40 young people between the ages of 19 and 25 years attended the drop in. To protect the anonymity of the attendees and encourage feedback, no further details were taken.
Section 3: Healthwatch next steps
-All feedback has been recorded and will be included in the Healthwatch Bristol Quarterly and Annual Reports. These reports will be disseminated to Healthwatch partners including Bristol CCG, Bristol City Council, The Care Quality Commission, NHS England and Healthwatch England.
-The report will be presented to the Healthwatch Bristol Advisory Group to propose further uptake of the issues identified in this report.
-Healthwatch will work with Kids Company in Bristol to collect more feedback and engage young people in influencing health and social care services.
Section 4: Plans for future work between Healthwatch Bristol and Kids Co.
Kids Co will organise a Focus Group for young people to attend and take part in a group discussion about their experiences of health and social care and what support they would like to be available. Healthwatch will attend to facilitate the focus group.
Kids Co are developing an Urban Academy in Bristol. Healthwatch will work with Kids Co to be involved in their courses with a focus on giving students a voice in health and social care.
Any young people using Kids Co services are welcome to write a blog for Healthwatch and work with Ellen to share their story.
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Healthwatch Bristol You Said We Did Report: Kids Co Drop In28.07.2014