Sheffield Young Persons Hospital Gains New Accreditation

Staff and young people at Cygnet Hospital Sheffield’s Pegasus Ward which has recently become CAMHeleon accredited.

A Sheffield hospital which supports young people experiencing a mental health crisis is celebrating after one of its wards was officially recognised with a new accreditation for the positive difference it makes to young service users.

Cygnet Hospital Sheffield, on East Bank Road, offers a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) over three wards. In 2019, its Unicorn Ward became the first CAMHS service in the country to become CAMHeleon accredited. Now Pegasus Ward, an acute service, has followed suit and received the same highly-sought after recognition.

To gain CAMHeleon accreditation, services must demonstrate best practice across nine different areas including ‘Caring Relationships’, ‘Learning and Growth’, ‘Relational and Physical Safety’ and ‘Leisure and Therapeutic Activity’.

Developed by the same team who created Star Wards, CAMHeleon celebrates and promotes CAMHS best practice and the things that really make a positive difference to young inpatients, identifying small changes that have a big impact. Its overall objective is to support ward staff in enabling young people to really make the most of their time in hospital receiving support.

The team on Pegasus Ward, run by Cygnet Health Care, launched their CAMHeleon project eight weeks ago and have worked hard in a short space of time to create an action plan along with implementing planned improvements to the service.

As a result, a number of initiatives have been introduced into the service, including an ‘All about me wall’ featuring photos and details of staff interests to help build caring relationships and a communication white board door signs to empower young people to lead on communication. A new sensory snug has also been created.

Stacey Burgess, Pegasus Ward Manager, said: “Working through the CAMHeleon project has brought the Pegasus team even closer together in their joint goals to provide the best service for our Young People.

“It has been enriching for staff to be able to make a difference on another level. Being able to share this with our young people, has been the best reward with them all getting stuck in and showing off all the hard work they have also put in.”

Other initiatives launched include establishing relationships with external providers for young people to continue their hobbies whilst in hospital, such as with scouts and cadets, along with establishing a fortnightly family forum to allow peer family support and a space for learning.

Last month, Cygnet Hospital Sheffield opened the ward up to community teams, other CAMHS services, local LGBTQ+ charities, families and carers to come and celebrate the accreditation and see the showcase of achievements.

The young people on the ward raised money from arts and crafts that they have been working on which they plan to use on group leave to celebrate the big achievement.

Ali Curtis, Cygnet’s CAMHS Nursing Lead, said: “Stacey became Ward Manager on Pegasus at the end of June and has driven the CAMHeleon accreditation. Stacey understands the importance of co-production and she has worked so hard with her team and the young people to achieve CAMHeleon accreditation in such a short period of time.

“We are so proud of what Stacey and Pegasus have and continue to achieve.”