The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report following an inspection of the acute wards at Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust in June.
CQC carried out an unannounced inspection of the acute wards and psychiatric intensive care units at Littlebrook Hospital in Dartford, after receiving information giving inspectors concerns about the quality of care being provided.
This inspection looked at how safe and well-led services were, no ratings were produced in these key questions, and the overall rating of requires improvement for this service remains unchanged.
Karen Bennett-Wilson, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for community and mental health, said:
“We inspected the acute wards at Littlebrook Hospital, run by Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, as we received information which gave us concern about the safety of the people using this service.
“Although CQC saw staff who were committed to doing their best for people using this service, inspectors also saw both they and patients were being let down by some policies and environmental factors.
“There had been some improvements to the environment following the previous inspection and, in particular, staff were mitigating ligature risks (these are anchor points that people could use to harm themselves on). Yet, we still saw some outstanding issues with leaking showers flooding people’s rooms, and some door locks not working, which meant people couldn’t access their rooms when they wanted.
“It was also concerning there were some blanket restrictions on the wards, such as all internal doors being locked and access to the garden being restricted for people. There weren’t any systems to review whether these were appropriate and to either record or review them.
“However, there were enough nurses and doctors on the wards, and staff managed risk well. People also told us that they felt safe and well supported. “The trust has been told where improvements need to be made and we will continue to monitor the service, ensuring these are made and embedded, with a return inspection to check on their progress.”
At this inspection inspectors found:
- Although the wards premises were clean and comfortable, they were not well maintained
- Although there was an induction process for all staff working on the wards for the first time, the trust was unable to show CQC that the agency staff working on the day of the inspection had completed these inductions. This put people at risk of harm
- In addition, patients that told CQC they found Pinewood ward noisy and uncomfortable and reported that they did not have keys to their bedrooms, nor a working television in the lounge.
However:
- Patients on Amberwood ward reported that they felt safe and supported by staff, and patients on Willow suite reported that staff were responsive and caring
- Staff knew about any potential ligature anchor points and mitigated the risks to keep patients safe. Inspectors saw evidence of monthly and yearly ligature audits on each ward
- Staff had easy access to alarms and patients had easy access to nurse call systems.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on our website.
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