The Care Quality Commission has published the findings from a focused inspection of Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units at Littlebrook Hospital part of Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.
The inspection took place in November and December 2020.
CQC’s Head of Hospital Inspection for mental health, Karen Bennett-Wilson, said:
“We undertook this focused inspection to follow up on a number of concerns we had about the seclusion of patients, the environment and complaints from patients and carers. We looked specifically at the key questions: are services safe, responsive to people’s needs and well-led?
“We found that the wards inspected delivered safe care and staff managed risk well. Seclusion practice was appropriate and wards were clean and generally well maintained. Formal complaints were managed well but it was not always clear how informal complaints were documented and actioned.
“However, we told the trust it must ensure patients’ nutritional needs are always assessed and it must provide food that meets their individual dietary needs. We also told it that action must be taken to address outstanding maintenance work. We will return in due course to ensure the improvements have taken place.”
The inspection did not rate the services due to the targeted nature of the inspections. The acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units overall rating of Requires Improvement is unaffected.
The trust’s overall rating of Good is unaffected.
Ends
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