Difference between Acute ward and Private
 

Hi,

Can anyone tell me the real difference's between staying in an acute ward and a specialized long term unit.
I am worried that I am building it up to be something it isn't. My daughter is waiting for placement (possibly Priory or Cygnet) and is in an acute ward at the moment, which she is finding very difficult and says it is making her more ill.
Am I deluded in thinking that the care will be better and more suited to her (even if it is hundreds of miles away) in a private residential. She is very dependant on me and I worry that I am telling her it's going to be better when she gets a placement, the staff will have more time for you, better food, more activities to do, some real therapy and a less chaotic environment..... or is it really just the same as an acute ward at the end of the day !
Anyone who has experienced both, I would love to hear your insight into it.
thanks in advance xx

It is very different. The staff do have more time for you in a long stay unit and everything is generally more settled. There's more structure, groups, therapy and activities.
It really is a lot better in long stay units.

Thank you :-) The goal posts keep changing so much at the moment and I just don't want to keep promising her that it will be better when she moves to placement if it's not the case. I've become so cynical ! :-)

It's a lot better, but she'll still have to work hard and want to get betterfor it to work efffectivly. Good luck.

I've spend significant time in both acute wards and long term/private units. They really are miles apart! Acute wards are understaffed with too many patients. It's essentially a holding area and so you get patients with all kinds of illnesses under the same roof. It's not a great atmosphere, and there's no proper therapy structure.

Long stay units are completely different. They are geared up for certain patients (ie a personality disorder service that treats women using DBT) and so everything is structured and planned. There are lots of groups and chances to talk to someone. However the flip side is you are expected to work hard on your recovery and you cannot do nothing all day like you can on an acute ward. The private DBT unit I was on locked our bedrooms during the day so we'd have to go to groups and not stay in bed!

The food might not be any better it depends if it's cooked fresh on site or not. And the ward can sometimes still be quite chaotic, it's not guaranteed to be quieter all of the time. But overall it is definitely better to be on a long stay unit.

Thanks Night Circus, you have put my mind at rest :-) (along with the other replies) The frustrating part is being told that she could wait up to a year for a placement...as no planned discharges for where she has been offered. (whats the point in that !!) Grrrrr !!!

I know it's frustrating to wait. Long term units typically take patients for one year plus, so if they had a few patients get admitted around the same time then it does mean a long wait for one of them to be discharged. But there may be an unplanned discharge come up sooner, or maybe something can be arranged. Hopefully it wont be too long.

This is very true.

I'm in private at the moment due to no beds in the NHS, and it is much better more therapeutic and the staff have more time for you here. The food is better and it is a little less about med pushing more about therapeutic and medication based treatments.

X