"One goal: to help you feel better"

I spent time recently in Sligo Leitrim Adult Mental Health Inpatient unit. The unit is very modern and everyone has their own room. All the staff from doctors to the cleaning staff treated everyone with respect. The recent addition of a social worker to the unit is invaluable as she can help you with  forms etc and dealing with organisations when this is beyond your capabilities.

All the nursing staff are extremely approachable and always available to talk and listen. However a noticeboard with the days key consultants, key nurses etc which could be updated at the start of each shift would be helpful as sometimes you don't know your key worker and you might be too shy to ask.

It would also be more helpful if the nurses name badge are larger as the existing one is too small and with the masks its makes recognising people more difficult. You have a weekly team meeting which can be very daunting but when your key worker goes through any queries you have beforehand it makes the meeting less stressful.

The beauty room in the unit is great as it allows you to feel good about yourself when your self esteem in general might be quiet low, staff are always available for blow drys etc. The OT's are a very important part of the team however the same timetable runs every week so if you are there for a while it gets boring, so I think they should also take into consideration some extra classes for those who are in the unit for a while. The weekend is extremely long and sometimes it feels like time is going backwards, so if possible extra activities should be included to shorten the weekend.

I would say my experience in the unit was very much  a positive one as everyone working there has one goal that is to help you to feel better