Cygnet Hospital Stevenage

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

We rated the service as good for caring because: Staff always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. People were viewed as unique with skills, strengths and personal goals. People were supported to manage their health in a way that made sense to them. People were able to keep in touch and meet up with people who were important to them including family, friends and people who shared their interests, identity and culture.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We spoke with 12 patients and 5 carers. Patients we spoke with felt they were treated with kindness, compassion and dignity in their day to day care and support Patients felt that staff listened to them and communicated with them appropriately in a way they could understand. Patients felt that staff knew and understood them including their preferences, wishes, personal histories, backgrounds and personal goals and aspirations. Patients believed that staff would respond to their needs quickly and efficiently, especially if they were in pain, discomfort or distress. Carers told us that staff were polite, respectful and kind. One carer told us that ' there are some lovely staff there that are really interested'. We spoke with 6 staff. Staff told us that there was a culture of kindness and respect between colleagues. The May 2023 Quality Network for Forensic Mental Health Services review noted similar positive feedback : Both patients and carers spoke positively about their interactions with staff. Patients expressed that staff are helpful, that they feel respected and “there is dignity and respect”. One patient survey response stated that “I am being taken care of. I like the way they treat me here”. Patients explained that they deliver patient perspective training to new starters, which they feel supports mutual understanding. Carers were similarly complimentary, describing staff as “very friendly” and “kind”.

During our site visit we observed that patients felt safe and staff were visible and engaging with patients in a kind and caring manner.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

The hospital had some excellent therapeutic facilities available including. a well-provisioned music room decorated by street artists in collaboration with patients, a large sports hall and two gyms. Patients spoke highly of the occupational therapy (OT) provisions. They explained that these helped them feel busy and reported a “good balance of things to do”. The OT timetable was clearly visible on the ward, and patients reported that this was largely comprised of patient requested activities. We saw photographs of patient day trips displayed on the wards. Occupational Therapy activities helped support patients to develop daily living skills in preparation for moving on or discharge. Two patient told us that there was not enough access to technology on the ward due to restrictions around computer, internet and smartphone access on forensic wards. Staff and patients were participating in a task and finish group at the time of the assessment to review patients access to smartphones and tablets and the internet on an individually risk-assessed basis.

Care was planned in a person centred way with the involvement of people, families and advocates when appropriate. Feedback was obtained from people during meetings with staff and support needs were regularly reviewed. We saw from care plans, minutes from ward rounds and discharge planning meetings, occupational therapy timetables and staff feedback that patients had choice and control over their care and were able to make decisions and treatment choices.

The service offered person-centred care. Patients were supported to have choice and control over their own care and to make decisions about their care treatment and wellbeing. Patients told us they were given information about their treatments, including being given verbal and written information about medicines to help them make informed choices. Patients were given information about their rights and were able to feedback to staff their views and wishes during 1-1 meetings with their key nurse, therapy sessions, during ward rounds and discharge planning meetings, at community meetings and the Patient Council. During the Quality Network for Forensic Mental Health Services review, patients described the service as open and willing to take and act on suggestions. They identified community meetings as a route through which they can raise issues and they felt confident that issues would be acted on. They were able to chair these meetings when desired. There were also “You said, We did” boards on the wards to show patients how their feedback was used to make changes to the service. Patients and carers told us they were supported to maintain relationships including family therapy and patients were supported to have access to their family and friends while they were at the service. The service had a Family Carer Strategy which aimed to provide involvement opportunities (e.g. service user and carer forums), work together with families and carers to devise improvements and empower families and carers to lead and produce projects. Patients had access to activities including in the local community where appropriate. For example, a patient was being supported to attend martial arts sessions at a local club. Another patient was supported to work as a volunteer in a local charity shop.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.