“What provisions or policies do services have in place around families/visitors bringing food in for service users to consume during visits and/or on the wards?”
All food and drink brought in should be sealed. If a patient is wanting to share a takeaway with visitors this goes through MDT and risk is managed appropriately. We also encourage our patients to socialise with visitors on S17 leave in the local community as part of their rehab. Humber Centre
So, at Cygnet we have a takeaway and food gift log and advice leaflet – so people can bring, and we log it, even in the secure setting. If patients have an individual security risk this would be risk assessed and managed in line with the RRP and positive and safe policies, with individual restrictions (so for example if contraband or restricted items were a concern). Cygnet Bierley
Here at Forest Lodge due to the nature of our service, whilst we encourage families to bring foods etc for their loved ones, we do have to search this, as we have had drugs coming into the wards in foods before. Families would normally bring foods and we go through the search process. We do not allow opened foods/drinks unto the wards. Forest Lodge, Respondent 1
At Forest Lodge (Low Secure) we allow family / visitors to bring our patient food to be consumed on the ward. If we have concerns that their maybe contraband / restricted items / drugs concealed in the food, we make sure it is thoroughly checked and if we still have concerns then we do not allow the patient to be given the food and let the visitor take it home. In the past 5 year it has only happened twice that we have not allowed a patient to be given food from a visitor, and on both occasions it was the same visitor trying to conceal drugs. Forest Lodge, Respondent 2
