St Raphael Ward

You can contact St Raphael Ward on 0300 304 0255.

St Raphael Ward is a psychiatric inpatient unit for older people with mental health problems in the East Sussex area with 12 male and 5 female beds.

Professionals who work within specialist community mental health services, GP’s and approved mental health professionals can make a referral to St Raphael via the Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team.

If you are admitted to St Raphael Ward we will welcome you on to the ward and get to know more about you.

The team will carry out a thorough assessment over a period of time to assess your mental and physical needs. This will enable us to work with you in establishing where you need support and what your goals for recovery are.

The team working on the ward include nurses, doctors, occupational therapists, and a psychologist. Each of these roles will be involved in assessing your situation and will work with you to develop your care plan. The team also have access to dieticians and physiotherapists if needed.

We aim for inpatient stays to be as short as possible and if there are social problems that are contributing to your mental health difficulties then we will help arrange assessments for those areas. 

We would like you to be as comfortable as possible during your stay with us, so we have suggested some items we think you might like to bring with you:

• Several changes of underwear, and a few changes of clothing and shoes
• Night wear, dressing gown and slippers
• Toiletries 
• Any walking, visual or hearing aids that you may need

Some other things you might want to bring are:

• Diary, note book and writing materials
• Telephone numbers of friends and family
• Books, magazines, something to read
• Games, puzzles

We have limited space and storage at the hospital so please only bring the essentials. We can always help you get some extra belongings at a later date.

We would kindly ask that you do not bring any of the following items into hospital:

• Large amounts of cash, cheque books or credit cards
• Non-prescribed medication, such as vitamins or aspirin (if you are feeling unwell whilst in hospital the doctor can prescribe you something)     
• Belts, carrier bags and sharp objects (e.g. knives, scissors, and razors) - these items must be handed in to the nursing staff
• Alcohol and illicit substances

Any property you have with you will be checked by a member of staff and if there are items which you are not able to keep with you, a family member or friend will be asked to take them home for you. In a case where that is not possible these items must be handed in for safe-keeping.

• St Raphael Ward: 0300 304 0255
• Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and Complaints Team: 0300 304 2198
• Mental Health Advocacy Service: 0300 456 2370
• Sussex Mental Healthline- offers support and will point you in the right direction about where to get help should you need it. Monday to Friday 5pm to 9am and 24hrs at weekends and Bank holidays: 0300 5000 101
• MIND - advice and support for anyone experiencing a mental health problem: 0300 1233 393 or text 86463
• Hastings Samaritans - 24 hour phone line and drop in visits, based at 26 St. Andrews Square, Hastings, TN34 1SR: 01424 436 666
• Samaritans: whatever you are going through call free at any time on 116 123 / email jo@samaritans.org / samaritans.org.uk
• Rethink - support for people with severe mental health problems and their carers: 01424 426 833
• Health in Mind - free NHS service for anyone in East Sussex experiencing emotional or psychological difficulties. Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm: 0300 003 0130
• Care for Carers - support for carers: 01323 738 390
• Cavendish House Specialist Mental Health Team - Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm: 01424 726 600