What is Safewards?
Safewards is a series of methods and approaches used in mental health trusts across the NHS. These evidence-based interventions have been proven to reduce instances of conflict and containment and make wards safer places for service users, their carers/supporters, and staff.
How NSFT is implementing Safewards?
As part of our improvement plans for 2023, we want to implement and embed the Safewards model across our Trust. We have been running a six-month supporting programme to help our colleagues embed these methods and approaches across each of their wards.
In addition to bespoke support provided by the Safewards project team, each month, representatives from all of our wards are also invited to attend a monthly in-person event, to learn more about the Safewards model as well as share learning with each other and work together to overcome challenges.
For more information please contact Sophie Bagge: sophie.bagge@nsft.nhs.uk or 07785693984.
Below we highlight some of the key points from our meetings so far:
Session 1
This event was presented and facilitated by a broad range of staff of differing experience and backgrounds as well by individuals with lived experience to ensure all perspectives and personal experiences were considered. 
Some of the main topics covered were:
- Why re-introducing Safewards at NSFT is important
- An overview of the structure of the collaborative
- The Safewards Model and the evidence base
- An overview of the ten key Safewards interventions
- Bespoke idea generation to re-establish and embed the interventions onto the wards
- Understanding how we will be using QI in this collaborative
- How to record and measure change idea implementation using QI methodology
- Next steps and expectations for each ward
Session 2
The importance of working in collaboration with service users, their families and carers in the process of embedding the ten key Safewards interventions onto our wards was a primary focus of our second in-person Safewards session on Wednesday on 21 September 2023. 
Some of the main topics covered were:
- The positive impact Safewards can have on people with lived experience
- Presentations from five wards sharing their progress so far
- The different facilitators and barriers faced so far when attempting to implement Safewards on our wards
- Idea generation on how to overcome some of the barriers
- How to use the LifeQI platform to record our change ideas
- The different methods of measuring our improvement efforts (e.g. photos, guidance packs, physical items, documented experiences, posters etc.)
- The Safewards Challenge – working together to give your Safewards intervention the best hope of success (otherwise known as: protect your chocolate egg from breaking!)
- Conclusions, next steps and expectations for each ward
Session 3:
This sessions primary focus was to make sure that our teams understood the importance of Safewards, by getting each attendee at the session to consider the treatment they'd want/expect for a loved one recieving care at one of our wards and how the Safewards standards would support these standards being met.
Some of the main topics covered included:
- Reflecting on session two
- Hearing a powerful poem written by one of our service users
- Considering our expecations if we had a loved one receiving care and how Safewards would support this
- Presentations from wards sharing their progress
- Embedding trauma informed care into Safewards
- Conclusions and next steps