James’ story
Follow James' journey through his bespoke therapeutic placement at Priory Hospital Mildmay Oaks.
Priory Hospital Mildmay Oaks created its first adult ‘bespoke therapeutic placement’ (BTP) at the start of 2020, after the success of the young people’s BTPs.
James* came to us presenting with aggressive behaviours and his complex and challenging needs were difficult to manage on an open ward. He was a risk to himself and others, and suffered from past traumas and sensory issues.
He was a risk to himself and others, and suffered from past traumas and sensory issues. Our BTP was ideal as it allowed us to create a bespoke team and programme for James, which better suited his needs. James came to us from his community placement that had broken down due to his harmful behaviours so it was important to create an environment as close to community living as possible, whilst keeping him and others safe.
James has severe autism so we focused on developing a nurturing nursing and care team who were skilled in autism. They also created a bespoke multidisciplinary team, which was led by an ASD consultant. They designed activities specifically around James’s interests and abilities with therapies including music, play and cooking, plus community engagement work.
The overall aim was to give James the space he needed and the extended time to self-regulate his emotions. At the time, this couldn’t be given in another ward environment but our BTP was a robust and safe space where he could still be around staff to support him in
his recovery.
Positive results
Our senior team worked with the nursing and health care workers and provided ongoing staff training, reflective practice and wellbeing initiatives, which supported the whole process and promoted positive results for all involved.
Over time, it became clear that the ‘single person environment’ was contributing towards positive outcomes. James didn’t need to be secluded or restrained as the new environment began to put him at ease. He became less aggressive and much more receptive to our team and the therapy on offer.
James developed his independent skills well and we are focusing on supporting him back into the community as soon as possible.
*Patient’s name and image has been changed to protect their identity.