The SIESTA team conducted 7 focus groups in October 2025 to present the survey results and to discuss further the causes and consequences of poor sleep for patients and the potential solutions to help patients sleep better at Ridgeway. We had 3 patient groups, 3 staff groups and 1 carer group. The groups went really well, with some very interesting conversations and ideas as a result. 

We are now (November-December 2025) analysing the transcripts using Braun & Clarke's (2006) Thematic Analysis Framework.

The SIESTA team started recruiting for the patient survey interviews in April 2025. There was a short recruitment window of 3 months, with a dream target of 100 recruits. With a combined effort from the recruiting team, we were able to recruit 102 patients within the time frame to the survey interviews across all wards at Ridgeway. This works out at about 2 in 3 patients in the service.

Due to our high recruitment number, this means we were able to hear from a wide range of voices about their experience of sleep in a secure inpatient setting. Patient feedback has been positive, with a patient who completed a PRES feedback form quoting:

"It helped me understand the importance of sleep and to sleep better"

On Tuesday, the 29th April 2025, Roseberry Park Hospital welcomed the Research Bus. Our Research Assistant, Sarah was there to talk about SIESTA sharing the bus alongside the Patient Complaints team and Patient and Carer experience team. Lots of staff and patients attended that day to find out more about research. Of course, our attendees could not resist the opportunity to meet Wispa, the therapy dog, who regularly visits the patients on the wards in Ridgeway. There was a lot of interest in the SIESTA research project, and good connections were made with clinical teams interested in how they can support research in the future that day.

To celebrate the 20th year anniversary of the Prison and Offender Research in Social Care and Health Network (PORSCH), a 1 day conference will be held on the Tuesday, 15th July 2025 at The Hub, Durham University, Durham to celebrate this event open to anyone who is interested to attend. The main theme of the event will focus on how to move the Criminal Justice System (CJS) forward, reduce the prison population and improve the resettlement and rehabilitation of offenders, and support methods for the staff working in these environments. 

You can find out more here

Some members of the SIESTA Research team had the privilege of attending the research roadshow held on 26th March 2025 at Ridgeway sports hall. It was an interesting and enlightening event and had lots of studies on display including our SIESTA study. The aim of the event was to provide opportunities for attendees to experience research involvement and engagement in the hope that this will improve their research delivery in the future. The team had a brief discussion with some of the patients, carers and professionals from the Ridgeway inpatient wards about SIESTA.

Prison and Offender Research in Social Care and Health Network (PORSCH) hosted a speaking event chaired by Dr Jon Carey on the 19th March 2025 at the Fenton Lounge at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough. The theme of the event was physical health. Members of the SIESTA project team gave a presentation about the study which stimulated much discussion with the audience. Dr Brian Docherty delivered an engaging talk, sharing insights into changes in prison health over the past five decades and offering suggestions for the future.

You can find out more about this event here under 'previous events' section on the page in the link.

This article talks about the SIESTA initiative and its long-term objectives.

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