Who are we?

Cotswold House is a 12 bedded inpatient unit offering specialist eating disorder treatment for adults.  Outside of COVID restrictions we also offers day patient and community treatment for patients in Swindon and Wiltshire.

Patients can be an inpatient at Cotswold house for an average stay of 16 weeks. Some admissions can be over a year.  Some of the beds are funded for Welsh patients which is a long way from home, for families and carers visiting this can mean a journey of around 3 hours and on occasions 4 or 5 if patients are from as far as the Valleys.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted Cotswold House in ways that we have never experienced before.

We have an idea of how to make a difference ...

The treatment provisions that we strive to provide have been drastically impacted and we are forever trying to be creative and think outside the box to offer the services that our patients, carers and staff need.

The social distancing measures that are in place across the country have encouraged businesses to also become creative in how they can continue to provide their services. Restaurants and cafes have introduced outdoor seating areas to ensure the safety of their customers, this encouraging people to still safely access their establishments.

Care homes across the country have now adapted with outdoor visiting pods for families to see their vulnerable loved ones. We would love to have 2 pods in the grounds of Savernake Hospital for the sole use of Cotswold House patients, Carers and Staff.  This would provide a space for visiting, therapeutic activities and general staff and patient wellbeing.

The idea of these pods is to allow our patients, carers and staff to benefit from being outdoors around nature while sheltered from the weather to enable them to be used all year round.

What have we done so far?

We have consulted patients, carers and staff about the Wellbeing Pods.

We have met with the Savernake Hospital team and engaged with local businesses.

We have put together a proposal for funding and support.

This project has boosted staff and patient morale in a really challenging time and helped us all look forward to a brighter future!