Jersey psychiatric unit struggling to recruit staff

Enya Satchwell was a patient at Orchard house in 2022, and said staff went above and beyond their roles

Jersey's psychiatric unit is having difficulties recruiting staff.

Andy Weir, director of mental health services, said the struggle to recruit meant Orchard House was without a permanent onsite psychologist.

He said it had to rely on agency staff and sharing resources with the community.

Enya Satchwell was a patient at the unit last year and said staff went above and beyond their roles, but there were not enough of them.

'Actively recruiting'

She said: "When there was a psychologist there - he was only there a short period of time whilst I was there - he would go round and see as many people as he could, but that's one man doing that job for the whole ward - and not just that ward - there are another two wards.

"The occupational therapist also does work with people individually and puts a lot of time and effort into each person, but she can't put that much effort into everybody that she sees because she doesn't have enough time."

Mr Weir said: "We have specific difficulties that are really well rehearsed in Jersey in terms of getting people to come here and particularly because of things like cost of living. But we are actively recruiting.

"We're also doing a piece of work where we're thinking about different roles, so we have for example a recent recruitment of an assistant psychologist to Orchard House.

"It's not a psychologist, but it's a step forward to help bridge the gap so there'll be someone there with psychological skills that will be able to work with people supported by a psychologist."

Andy Weir said the struggle to recruit meant Orchard house was without a permanent onsite psychologist

Miss Satchwell also wants to see more facilities for patients when they leave Orchard House, to support them back into the community.

She claims she would have left the unit sooner had she got more support earlier in her stay.

Waiting and discharge times

Length of stay and delayed transfer of care is monitored by the department.

Figures show every month from March 2022 to February 2023 there were between two and five people staying at Orchard House who had been assessed as no longer needing hospital treatment.

The longest stay in this period was just under 14 months.

Mr Weir said a lack of accommodation to move patients to was one of the main reasons for people staying longer than they needed to.

He said his team were reviewing what accommodation there was to support patients through their treatment.

He said: "Some people need quite a lot of intensive support to start with, some people need less, and then some people are able to go home just with some community support coming in and out."

One of the major concerns over the years - and another aspect of care Miss Satchwell raised - is the mixed wards at Orchard House - which means men, women and young people all share the same spaces.

Mr Weir said this would change when the unit moved to Clinique Pinel - which is due to happen by the end of June.

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