23.12.16
Private mental hospital placed in special measures
A private mental hospital has been placed in special measures after a visit by CQC inspectors found serious safety failings.
Mundesley Hospital, which can accommodate 27 adult patients, opened at the site of the former Diana Princess of Wales Treatment Centre in Norfolk earlier this year. However, the CQC rated it ‘inadequate’ for being safe and well-led and ‘requires improvement’ for being effective, while rating it as ‘good’ for being caring and responsive.
Dr Paul Lelliott, the CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals and lead for mental health, said: “All of the care plans examined lacked detail, staff did not always ensure that patients were aware of their rights and not all staff had completed mandatory training required to do their jobs correctly and effectively.”
The CQC found evidence of serious incidents, including police being called after a detained patient went missing, that Mundesley Hospital failed to report to the regulator.
Additionally, nursing staff did not always record medication administration, or why medications had been omitted. During the inspection, the CQC saw that two patients had not received physical health medications as the hospital was out of stock.
Only a quarter of staff at the hospital were permanent, and there was no clinical psychologist in post. This meant that patients did not receive input from a psychologist whilst in the hospital.
On top of this, staff were not up to date with mandatory training in the safeguarding of adults and children, the 1983 Mental Health Act and the 2005 Mental Capacity Act, and patients were not provided with sufficient information about their rights.
The CQC has previously warned that mental health providers around the country are failing to train their staff in their responsibilities under the 1983 Act.
The regulator instructed Mundesley to enact a number of urgent actions. These included ensuring that all staff were up-to-date with mandatory training. It also recommended giving qualified staff immediate life support training, because the hospital’s rural location meant it would be harder for ambulances to reach in an emergency.
Furthermore, it said that Mundesley must ensure that incident forms were completed in full and signed off by a senior manager, and that the CQC was notified and staff learned from incidents.
Its other recommendations were ensuring that restraint and rapid tranquillisation forms were fully completed, and completing an environmental risk assessment to identify ligature risks.
In a statement, the hospital said: “We and our stakeholders are undoubtedly disappointed to read the report about us from three months ago.
“However, we are certain that the ongoing developments we have made already put us in a completely different place now and that the CQC will see this when they next visit.”
(Image c. PA Archive/PA Images)
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