Welcome to our newsletter for August
We recently said goodbye to Dr Enquan Cheow, a Forensic Psychiatrist from Singapore who spent some time at Arnold Lodge. He was visiting as part of a Singaporean Department of Health project to improve patient care in the mental health system there. Dr Cheow worked in several hospitals across the length and breadth of the UK and Finland over the several months of the project and has now returned home. Reflecting on his time in the UK, he said that one of the real highlights of his time in the UK was seeing how much patients at Arnold Lodge are actively involved in MDT meetings and CPA meetings.
This is really encouraging because we identified this as an area for improvement a couple of years ago and have been working with all members of the Arnold Lodge community – patients, staff and family/friends – to address this. There is still work to be done but great to have positive feedback. Dr Cheow is taking this back to Singapore as his main recommendation to the Department of Health there.
Best wishes, Nick
Nicholas Taylor – Clinical Director
Arnold Lodge MSU
Not many people realise that Arnold Lodge is named after Dr Thomas Arnold (1742-1816), a doctor who was involved in mental health care in Leicester 250 years ago. After studying in Edinburgh he moved to Leicester and worked here for many years, at Leicester Infirmary, starting when it opened in 1771. The hospital had 40 beds when it opened and no running water, but did have a brewery. Beer was believed to be safer than water to drink at the time and was supplied to patients and staff. Dr Arnold was famous for taking a more humane approach to mental healthcare at a time when conditions were generally very harsh. Two of Dr Arnold’s sons worked with him in subsequent years, with one continuing until 1840, by which time there were 60 beds in the Infirmary. Dr Arnold may have died a little over 200 years ago, but earlier this year we received a letter addressed to him!
Patients Success in Art Competition
Fantastic news for Arnold Lodge from the Quality Network Art Competition:
we have been awarded 3 winning art pieces from the submissions for each pathway. The winners came from Tamar and Thornton wards and included one patient getting 2 winning pieces. This is brilliant! To see our patients getting recognized for their creative skills and really provides confidence and achievement when expressing their creative side. Well done to all patients that submitted artwork to this competition, the standards were high with the work that was created, and we look forward to seeing more success in the future.
