A preliminary comparison of acute mental health inpatient wards which use Protected Engagement Time, with other wards delivering standard care alone

Background/Objectives: Patients on acute psychiatric wards in the UK have recurrently reported that they are unhappy with the ward environment, that they are bored and have little to do, that wards are intimidating, and above all, contact between staff and patients is often identified as too limited in both quantity and quality, and as lacking therapeutic content. Despite various local and national initiatives, we do not yet have an evidence-based way of addressing this problem. Protected Engagement Time (PET) has emerged as a promising initiative for improving quantity and usefulness of staff-patient contact. D…