The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated the Breightmet Centre for Autism as Good and removed it from special measures following an inspection in November. The service had previously been rated as Requires Improvement.
Following this inspection, the safety, effectiveness and well-led ratings move from Requires Improvement to Good overall, with caring and responsiveness remaining rated as Good.
CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said:
"I am pleased to report that the Breightmet Centre for Autism has taken feedback from our inspectors and addressed many of the shortcomings found at previous inspections.
“As a result, this service has been taken out of special measures.
“I was encouraged to see particular improvements to the way in which patients with communication difficulties were being cared for. For example, staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients.
“Although there have been many improvements, we have told the provider where they must better their adherence to infection prevention and control practices to keep people safe from COVID-19 and also make sure they have enough qualified staff to look after people using their services. We will continue to monitor improvements at this service and make sure they are being sustained.”
The service had made significant improvements in several areas and inspectors saw that there were many improvements including:
- The hospital had appointed a clinically experienced director who was also the registered manager. They had implemented several effective governance systems and made changes to the way staff were trained and supported.
- The number of restraints that took place over a comparable period had reduced significantly and the hospital was were doing further work on a restraint reduction programme.
- Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients.
The full inspection report can be found on the CQC website here.
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