England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals has recommended that Huntercombe Hospital- Stafford should exit special measures following a Care Quality Commission inspection which rates the hospital as Requires Improvement overall.
The hospital, which cares for children and adolescents aged between eight and 18 with mental health needs, was placed into special measures in August 2016 when it was rated Inadequate by CQC. At that time, inspectors found there was no effective system in place to safeguard the well-being of patients and there were serious concern regarding the staffing, management and clinical practice at the hospital.
CQC inspectors found the independent hospital, which provides child and adolescent mental health inpatient services for up to 39 young people, needed to make a number of improvements to ensure it was consistently delivering care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
Inspectors visited the hospital again between 30 January and 1 February 2017 and found, while further work was still needed, a number of significant improvements had been made, resulting in the recommendation that the service should now exit special measures.
CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health), Dr Paul Lelliott, said:
“On our return to Huntercombe Hospital– Stafford, we found a number of improvements had been made and, although further work is needed, we recommend that the hospital now exits special measures."
“Previously we were concerned that the safety of young people using the service was compromised due to insufficient staffing levels, restrictive interventions, poor physical health monitoring and a poorly trained and supervised workforce."
“At that time, feedback from young people and their carers was largely negative and reflected a hospital that did not take into account the individual needs of those using the service."
“When we returned we found that the hospital had introduced training to reduce the dependency of staff on restraint and other restrictive practices. Senior staff reviewed incidents daily and shared any learning from these. Also, staff assessed the physical health care needs of young people and made sure that patients’ views were reflected in care planning."
“After the hospital was placed into special measures, managers and directors listened to staff in a series of days to review the events that resulted in CQC’s rating. Managers committed to an ongoing programme of meetings and action to engage staff in the development of the hospital, and there were regular forums to hear the views of young people on their care and the hospital’s improvement plan."
“We have maintained close contact with the service and partner agencies in the time between our inspections. The hospital has clearly benefitted from the support it received from the special measures regime. We will continue to monitor the service and will return to check on the progress of the further improvements that need to be made.”
There are a number of areas where further improvements are needed, including:
- The provider must ensure that any blanket restrictions are removed and any ongoing restrictions are based on individualised risk assessments of young people.
- The provider must ensure that policies and training on rapid tranquilisation are up to date with NICE guidance.
- The provider must provide sufficient, appropriate and co-ordinated therapeutic activities, and access to psychological therapies must be available on all wards.
- The provider must introduce a management structure to encompass therapy staff and provide ongoing support through supervision and appraisals.
- The provider must ensure that clinical staff are trained in the Mental Health Act and revised code of practice.
- The provider must ensure that all assessments of mental capacity are complete, and refer to both diagnostic and functional tests, and that a young person’s right to refuse treatment is included in the description of Gillick competency*. The provider must introduce an audit of their compliance with the Mental Capacity Act and the application of Gillick competency.
Huntercombe Hospital-Stafford is rated as Requires Improvement overall, Requires Improvement for whether services are safe, effective, responsive and well-led and Good for whether its services are caring.
The full report including ratings of all core services is available on our website.
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