One patient who wanted to speak with us said that they were happy at the hospital.

It was evident from discussions with people that they were involved in their own care planning. People had access to their care records on request and had monthly meetings with their named nurse. One person said, “I have sit downs with staff to talk about my future and how I’m doing.”

Another person said, “I’ve been to other services that were horrible, but this place is good. I’m looked after and I can go out.”

On the units that care for people with autism it was difficult to obtain everyone’s views through conversation due to their complex communication needs.. We observed staff interactions with the patients. Staff clearly had a good understanding of the needs of the people in their care and how best to meet them. One person was able to tell us that since living at Ingram unit they had developed their cooking skills. They told us how they chose their menu, with staff support, before going shopping for the ingredients they needed to prepare the meal. They showed us their menu which was in picture format to help them understand the information.

On the Coquet unit, for several people the only criticism of the service was the poor quality of the food. One person said, “The food is not very good. Its better when we make it ourselves or when we go out.” On the Cheviot unit another person said there was no Jamaican option and the fish and chips on a Friday were always cold. Both people we spoke to on the Longhirst unit said that they did not like the food, with the menu being boring and repetitive.

One person said, “I’ve been to other services that were horrible, but this place is good. I’m looked after and I can go out.”

People had many positive comments to make about the support they receive from staff. One person said, “The staff are very good to me. They’re friendly.”

We spoke with two people about their medicines. One person was looking after some of their own medicines and they were happy to do this. They showed us where they kept them and explained how they used them.

Another person we spoke with told us how they were given their medicines. A medicine they took to control excess stomach acid, which should be taken before food, was routinely given after food. This could stop it working properly.

The person who was staying in the arts and crafts room on Longhirst unit told us that they were getting stressed at the length of time it was taking to move them to suitable accommodation.

People had many positive comments to make about the support they receive from staff. One person said, “The staff are very good to me. They’re friendly.”

One person said, “I know all my rights and I know how to complain if I needed to. But this place is canny and they support me to get well.”

People said that they had daily opportunities to discuss any concerns with the ward manager or any staff, or with their named nurse at monthly reviews.