The latest interim report from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) has found children and young people exhibiting high-risk behaviours are being cared for in NHS paediatric wards which may not be a safe environment and can impact on the wellbeing of those patients and their families and pose a risk to other patients and staff.
The report comes as HSIB undertakes an investigation into the risks associated with design of paediatric wards in hospitals.. The body says it has seen and heard that there are significant challenges in caring for children and young people exhibiting high-risk behaviours.
Wards may contain many self-harm and ligature risks and NHS staff, patients and families commented to HSIB that the wards are crowded, busy and noisy, and were unsuitable for children and young people experiencing a mental health crisis and/or who have sensory needs.
The interim report states that 13 out of the 18 hospitals the investigation spoke with said that for children and young people with high-risk behaviours the paediatric ward was “not safe” and was not a suitable environment, particularly if the child or young person did not have a physical health condition. The remaining five spoke of the huge challenges they face and that they try to make the environment as safe as possible but felt more could be done.