The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report following a focused inspection of Warren Court, one of the forensic inpatient and secure wards at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust.
The inspection was carried out in September and October following concerns about the safety and quality of the service from staff and stakeholders. Concerns related to the safety of patients, the management of safeguarding, the use of restrictive practice and staffing levels.
Warren Court provides care to males aged between 18 and 65-years-old with a learning disability who have a history of offending behaviours and where their mental state requires medium security.
Due to this inspection being focused at one service, no rating was issued.
The overall trust rating remains as outstanding. Inspectors found:
- Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood their needs
- Family members spoke positively about the hospital and the quality of the care their relative received
- The ward teams had access to a full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients
- Thorough risk assessments of all wards were done regularly
- The service had enough nursing and medical staff who knew the patients and they received training to keep people safe from avoidable harm
- Staff achieved the right balance between maintaining safety and providing the least restrictive environment possible to support patients’ recovery
- Staff had the skills to develop and implement positive behaviour support plans and followed best practice in anticipating, de-escalating and managing challenging behaviour. As a result, restraint and seclusion was used only after attempts at de-escalation had failed
- Some people said they felt unsafe when there were incidents of aggression between patients and were unhappy when they were moved between wards when this occurred
- Some staff did not feel that senior managers were visible, or that they could raise concerns without fear of reprisal.
Following the inspection, the trust must ensure the following improvements are made:
- Duty rotas must be recorded when staff are moved between wards
- Staff must receive and record specialist training relevant to their role
- All seclusion records must be completed in accordance with the Mental Health Act Code of Practice
- Patients must have access to regular patient forum meetings.
Read the report on Forensic inpatient or secure wards here.
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Read the report on Forensic inpatient or secure wards here.