The Care Quality Commission has told Glenside Manor Healthcare Services Limited the provider of Glenside Hospital for Neuro Rehabilitation that it must make significant improvements.
Glenside Hospital for Neuro Rehabilitation is an independent 42 bed hospital which provides different levels of care to patients with an acquired brain injury in Salisbury.
CQC inspectors conducted an unannounced, focussed inspection at the hospital in South Newton, Salisbury in November 2018 to in response to a number of concerns. These included staff not having appropriate checks before starting employment, poor working and living conditions for staff, competency of staff undertaking maintenance checks and lack of equipment across the Glenside Manor site.
Following the November inspection, CQC issued Glenside Hospital for Neuro Rehabilitation with four Warning Notices. The warning notices require the provider to make immediate improvements including
- The leadership team gain a better oversight of the service. There was no formal board structure or equivalent in place to provide checks and balances in decision making, and meetings of senior managers did not record discussion about risks, dashboards or quality indicators. Matters arising from previous meetings were not always discussed or actions followed up.
- The system for reporting, managing and investigating incidents needs to improve: seven patients had absconded during August 2018 but there were no investigation reports for these incidents or any learning taking from them to prevent recurrence.
- The service needs to provide enough staff with the right qualifications, skills or competency to safely care for patients according to their needs.
- Staff must understand the systems and processes in place for safeguarding and ensure that all staff know how to protect patients from abuse. Currently risks to patients were not always recognised being dealt with effectively.
- Staff and managers need to understand their roles, responsibilities or duties in complying with the Mental Health Act and also the rights of patients who were detained under the Act
The full inspection report can be found at: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-138006516
Inspectors were informed on the 31 January, that the hospital is now currently closed following a burst pipe. The provider has assured CQC and other stakeholders that patients have been moved safely to the adult social care locations on the same site and that the owner has voluntarily committed not to admit further patients at this time.
Dr Nigel Acheson, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector for Hospitals, said:
“Our inspectors found a number of serious concerns and taking enforcement action will ensure we protect the safety of people using services at Glenside Hospital for Neuro Rehabilitation.
“It is now up to the provider Glenside Manor Healthcare Services Limited to take action to address those concerns that have been highlighted during our latest inspection.”
“We will continue to monitor the service closely in partnership with the local healthcare community to ensure improvements are made. If improvements are not forthcoming we will not hesitate to take further steps to protect the people who are using this service”
The providers method of ordering and supplying medicines was labour intensive for staff and had a potential for human error. Incorrect medicines often arrived at the hospital and prescriptions were not managed safely and relied upon increased checking by nursing staff. Inspectors saw evidence of 11 errors that nursing staff had picked up and were processing on the day of inspection; these patients’ medicines had to be re-dispensed.
During the inspection, inspectors were made aware of an incident that should have been reported as a safeguarding incident to the local authority, but had not. Inspectors made the necessary referrals at that time. This suggests not all staff could not easily identify when to refer a safeguarding issue
The hospital equipment was not being safely managed and put patients and staff at risk. At the time of the inspection repairs were being carried out in house by staff without the relevant qualifications. Inspectors found a fire exit boarded up blocking an escape area, and at times there was not enough equipment to safely care for patients. Inspectors were told by staff and patients that rooms and equipment were often left uncleaned.
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