Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!Chapter 7 | 53The staff at the partner sites assessed each youngperson and then made a decision about whetherthey could support them, or if they needed to referthe young person to statutory services. However, itwas not always easy to find an appropriate service torefer the young person to:“Recently, a young man accessed Streetwisewho had been a former cannabis user and wasexperiencing hallucinations. As he was not residentin Newcastle, he could not be referred on to thepsychosis intervention team that Streetwise hasconnections with, and so had to be sent to a GP toget a local referral.Project worker, Streetwise, NewcastleGoing into hospitalSome young people said they had had badexperiences in accident and emergency (A&E)departments.“The doctors get quite abusive… one of themactually turned round and said ‘I hope you’re happy, Icould be out there saving lives’.”Young person“… they [A&E staff ] said ‘if you do it again you’ll endup in the mental institute across the road’… myfriend ended up in there and when she came out shewas in a worse state than when she went in.”Young personThe organisations had not yet undertaken workwith A&E departments to explore ways of improvingthe experience of young people, but at the timeof going to press, the Caterpillar Service in Cardiffand Experience in Mind in Brighton and Hove wereplanning to do more on this in future.Similarly, some young people reported havingnegative experiences during hospital admission:“Hospitals treat you like a patient before a person.”Young person“They just give you drugs and leave you to it.”Young personThe Caterpillar Service at Barnardo’s MarlboroughRoad Partnership in Cardiff was set up in April 2004to work primarily with young people who had beenadmitted as inpatients. The project aimed to providesupport for young people through the hospitaladmission process, to act as advocate for them andto provide help with adjusting to staying on theward. The service was established as a direct result ofconsultation with young people in Youth Crisis I.The service worked largely with young people on theadolescent unit in Cardiff, who were either voluntarypatients, or had been detained under the MentalHealth Act. The young people were aged from 11 to18 years, and had a range of mental health issues.Some had attempted suicide.However, young people are also sometimes admittedto adult wards, and the service built a relationshipwith staff on those wards and worked with theyoung people there. They reported one situation ofa young person being held for several months on anadult ward:“We established our role pretty well and worked welltogether. Since that time, we are trying to work withadult facilities to try and raise awareness of what wedo and to pick up any young person who may arriveon adult wards.”Project worker, Caterpillar Service,Barnardo’s Marlborough Road Partnership, Cardiff“[Being on an adult ward] was scary and knowingthat this [Caterpillar project] was there just helpedyou get through it.”Young person