Our ultimate purpose in providing mental health care is to enable our students to take control of their own lives. To do this, we adopt a whole-school and college approach to working with our students, their families and their friends. This means thinking holistically. In other words, we take into account the whole context, rather than just focus on the individual: like everybody else, our students are affected by their relationships with other people, the nature of the organisation in which they live and work (in terms of its procedures and ethos), and the physical surroundings. We aim to meet all of our students emotional and mental health needs by providing a high quality assessment service within a safe, positive, therapeutic environment whilst at the same time accomplishing RSDCD’s aims and objectives.
RSDCD is unusual in that it employs its own Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (MHNP) who is a qualified Registered Mental Nurse with particular expertise in supporting people with learning difficulties. Students are referred to him, especially when their behaviour challenges our services. Our MHNP works as part of the multi-disciplinary team using various therapeutic models. Apart form his work on the RSDCD campus, he works with families to ensure that consistent management strategies are in place in families’ homes. RSDCD is further supported by two experienced Consultant Psychiatrists for children and young adults. They hold clinics at RSDCD on a monthly basis.
To contact our Mental Health Nurse Practitioner call 0161 610 0100.
This post is generously funded by the CRH Charitable Trust.