The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Cygnet Yew Trees, Kirby-le-Soken, as Inadequate – following an inspection.
CQC inspected the 10-bed hospital, which serves adult women living with learning disabilities, in October 2019.
The inspection found a number of serious issues. As a result, the service is now rated Inadequate overall. It was previously rated Requires Improvement, following an inspection in April 2019.
Following October’s inspection, Cygnet Yew Trees was also placed in special measures. Services in special measures are re-inspected within six months. If any area is rated Inadequate at that stage, CQC will take action to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service.
Cygnet Yew Trees was re-inspected in January 2020 to determine if the issues detailed in CQC’s latest report had been addressed. CQC’s findings from that inspection will be published in due course.
CQC deputy chief inspector of hospitals (and lead for mental health), Dr Kevin Cleary, said:
“Our October 2019 inspection of Cygnet Yew Trees found standards of care that were below what people should be able to expect.
“There were instances where patient safety was compromised because staff did not always know how to respond to serious incidents or manage risk. Not all incidents were recorded appropriately or escalated, including following a patient-on-patient assault which was not raised with CQC or the local authority. We also found evidence of a patient choking twice on the same day, despite records identifying this risk.
“Patient observations were not always aligned to guidance. One patient’s door was closed at night, despite the patient being on within-eyesight observation following a ligature incident.
“Underpinning these issues was a lack of effective communication. Meeting minutes indicated staff did not receive feedback from incident investigations and leaders did not routinely share lessons learned.
“However, the provider had moved to identify new management who were aware of the hospital’s issues and implementing improvement plans. Staff were compassionate and used appropriate communication strategies, including Makaton – which uses symbols, signs and speech – to engage with people according to their needs.
“Following the inspection, CQC reported its findings to the hospital’s leadership, identifying where improvements must be made.
“CQC re-inspected Cygnet Yew Trees in January 2020 to determine if the issues we raised in our latest report had been addressed. These findings will be published in due course.”
Download the report, detailing the findings of October’s inspection.
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Our October 2019 inspection of Cygnet Yew Trees found standards of care that were below what people should be able to expect.
Dr Kevin Cleary, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health)