31/03/2025
Ward Spotlight - Identifying and meeting patients’ sensory and communication needs
Through their QI project, Heather Ward in Leicester have implemented changes to better meet patients' sensory and communication needs.
A key area of focus for ward teams participating in the MHA QI Programme has been how to better identify and support their patients' sensory and communication needs. This is especially important for improving the experiences of patients with learning disabilities and autistic patients on the ward, who can otherwise find the ward environment overstimulating and the medical discussions of their care difficult to understand or engage with.
Making improvements to the accessibility of ward environments and adapting communications to suit individual patients' needs is not just of benefit for those with an official diagnosis, but for all patients and staff.
Heather Ward in Leicester chose to focus on better understanding and supporting the needs of their patients, especially those with (un)diagnosed neurodiversity, having seen a correlation between unmet neurodiversity-related needs and an increase in incidents of self-harm. Their project work focuses on four key areas of action:
- Co-producing a communication passport to get to know patients and learn more about their communication and sensory needs and other personal preferences on admission.
- Designing and building a sensory room/ de-escalation space on the ward.
- Organising staff training on neurodiversity and how to support neurodiverse patients on the ward.
- Implementing a system one flag for neurodiversity diagnoses and related needs.
During the coaching period, the team focused on the first two change ideas, with the second two being longer-term goals to support with the successful embedding of improved care for neurodiverse patients on the ward.
Heather Ward presented their work at the Celebration & Learning Event on 11th March, and the PDF of their presentation below provides further details of their project.