Malachite Ward

  • Malachite Ward provides high quality mental health care to people with psychotic illnesses in an in-patient setting. Our goal is to support patient recovery, to promote mental and physical wellbeing and optimise independence and social inclusion. 

    Malachite Ward is a 16-bed mixed gender inpatient rehabilitation ward, which specialises in the treatment of complex patients with difficult to treat psychotic illnesses from the London Borough of Islington. The approach is multidisciplinary and holistic, with an emphasis on treatment optimisation.

  • Borough(s): Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington
  • Email: Malachite.Ward@nhs.net
  • Address:
    Highgate East Mental Health Centre,  130 Dartmouth Park Hill, London, N19 5FJ
  • Phone number: 0207 561 4020 or 0207 561 4022

Conditions treated

Treatment resistant schizophrenia, affective disorder, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder

How to access this service

Referrals are made through acute admissions wards when this intervention is indicated. It can also come from Forensic services. 

Who is this service for?

Service users with severe and enduring mental health conditions that require a sustained period of admission and treatment, to be supported with Activities of daily living and access to ongoing support in a community rehab setting.

What to expect

  • A comprehensive psychiatric assessment
  • Optimisation of medication (often including Clozapine +/-augmentation)
  • Management of physical health problems including appropriate liaison with medical colleagues from the Whittington Hospital
  • Assessment formulation and psychological intervention is offered by the ward clinical psychologists, which may include group therapy, family work or psychometric testing
  • A full rehabilitation programme headed by the unit’s Occupational Therapist including attempts to link patients into community resources in preparation for move -on
  • Specialist nursing interventions including support to improve activities of daily living
  • Frequent liaison with community care coordinators to identify and resolve impediments to move -on
  • Regular involvement of patients’ families and carers

We work towards building resilience, using a trauma informed approach.  We work proactively as a multidisciplinary team to support our patients towards an appropriate discharge plan. This usually includes a period of graduated transitional leave, tailored to the person’s needs and in close contact with the local community placements.

Service manager(s)

Beata Chrzastek (ward manager)
Dr Julian Summerfield (Consultant Psychiatrist)
Neill Wells & Joan Bradford (Matrons)
Kerry O’Brien (Head of Service)

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