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Accessible summary: What is known on the subject?: Sometimes someone needs to be in hospital because they are struggling with their mental health and need some extra support but being in hospital can also be a difficult experience.There are a lot of restrictions in place in hospital, like locked doors, rules to follow and not much choice about what happens to you.Other research has found that these restrictions can feel difficult and stressful for people and so more research is needed about this.We wanted to know what being in hospital felt like for women in particular. What the paper adds to existing knowledge?: We interviewed women who were in hospital because of their mental health about what it was like for them in hospital.The women told us that they felt powerless while they were in hospital. They sometimes felt like they were being punished and this could affect their mood and could lead to them hurting themselves.They also said that they were not always listened to by staff, and they found it difficult being away from their family and friends while they were in hospital.The women also told us that being in hospital could sometimes help them to feel safe. What are the implications for practice?: Women should be looked after in hospital in a way that helps them to feel in control of what happens to them.They should be supported to be able to go outside the hospital on leave, to keep in touch with their family and friends, and they should be listened to by staff.A project called "safewards" has suggested some ways for helping to make hospital wards safer. They have suggested that everyone should be clear about what the rules are when they go into hospital and ways that staff could communicate more clearly with the people they are working with. Our research supports using these techniques. Introduction: Inpatient care often involves restrictive interventions such as seclusion and restraint and restrictive practices that limit the person's freedom, rights and daily activities. Restrictive practice has not been the explicit focus in previous research; however, it often appears as an important theme, with participants identifying it can have a detrimental effect on their well‐being. More research specifically on this topic in an inpatient setting is, therefore, needed. Women might be particularly vulnerable to adverse effects of restrictive practices compared to men as women generally occupy less powerful positions in society and more often experience abuse. Aims: The study aimed to explore women's experiences of routine restrictive practices in mental health inpatient settings. Methods: Twenty‐two women who were currently inpatients on mental health wards were interviewed about their experiences of restrictive practices in hospital. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: An overarching theme emerged of powerlessness. Four key sub‐themes were also identified: restrictions perceived as punitive, having no voice, impact of restrictions on relationships and restrictions providing safety and support. Discussion: Although restrictive practices were found to provide the women with a sense of safety, they were also found to impact upon the women's well‐being, leading to increases in self‐harm and over‐reliance on restrictions. Implications for practice: This research highlights the importance of gender‐informed inpatient services for women that foster independence, empowerment and allow women to have their voices heard. Safewards interventions such as clear mutual expectations and soft words could contribute to mitigating the impact of restrictive practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates over the value and contribution of community hospitals are hampered by a lack of empirical assessment of the experience of patients using these services. This paper presents findings from a study which included a focus on patient and family‐carer experiences of community hospitals in England. We adopted a qualitative design involving nine case study hospitals. Data collection included interviews with patients (n = 60), carers (n = 28) and staff (n = 89). Through patients and carers highlighting the value of community hospitals feeling 'close to home', providing holistic and personalised care and supporting them through difficult transitions, the study confirms the importance of functional and interpersonal aspects of care, while also highlighting the importance of social and psychological aspects. These included having family, friends and the community close, maintaining social connections during periods of hospital treatment, and feeling less anonymous and anxious when attending the hospital due to the high levels of familiarity and connectedness. Although the experiences uncovered in this study were not uniformly positive, patients and carers placed a high overall value on the care provided by community hospitals, often arguing that these were distinctive when compared to their experiences of using other health and care services. The study suggests the need to weigh the full range of these dimensions of patient experience—functional, interpersonal, social and psychological—when assessing the role and contribution of community hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore negative peer interactions in foster care. Looked after children and young people have highlighted the impact of negative peer interactions, and especially peer violence and intimidation, on their care experiences. However, to date, no specific fostering research has addressed this important issue. In response to this gap, we undertook focus groups with 32 foster carers in the South West of England. Group discussions were semi-structured based around the issue of negative peer interactions in foster care. The analysis revealed five main associated themes: the impact on the carers' birth children; a lack of placement planning; inadequate referral information; a negative view of social work support; and insufficient external interventions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Negative peer interactions, particularly violence, were a major concern for foster carers, especially if they negatively impacted on the welfare of carers' birth children., An absence of pre-placement referral information on negative peer interactions was commonly reported and placed all children in the fostering household at risk., Associated social work support and external interventions were often perceived as lacking and inadequate., Fostering procedures, review and decisions need to recognise the impact of peer violence on all members of the fostering household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]