The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has welcomed improvements made at The Priory Hospital Bristol, following an inspection which took place in April.
The Priory Hospital Bristol is an independent hospital registered to provide care and treatment for up to 85 people with mental health conditions.
In September, CQC imposed conditions on the provider’s registration, following an inspection of the wards for children and young people (CAMHS) and the acute and inpatient wards for adults. In July 2020, the provider took the decision to close the two CAMHS wards and young people using the services were transferred to other services. When inspectors revisited the service in April, they were satisfied that sufficient improvements had been made, and the conditions were removed on 15 June.
The overall rating for The Priory Hospital Bristol has not changed and is good. The service is also rated good for being effective, caring, responsive and well-led. The rating for safe has dropped from good to requires improvement. The same ratings apply to the specialist eating disorder services, the long stay or rehabilitation mental health wards for adults, and the acute wards for adults and psychiatric intensive care units.
Karen Bennet-Wilson, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for mental health, said:
“I am pleased to report that The Priory Hospital Bristol has made considerable improvements since our last visit. It is clear the leadership team has taken our feedback on board and has worked hard to address our concerns.
“It was particularly encouraging to hear complimentary comments from patients about the staff who cared for them. People said that staff were caring and respectful and that the ‘help and support had been faultless’. It was also pleasing to hear that staff felt positive and proud about working at the hospital.
“Although there is still more work to do, and we have pointed out further areas for improvement, the service has come a long way and leaders and staff deserve to be congratulated for the hard work they have put in to turn the service around.”
Inspectors found the following:
- Leaders understood the service they managed and had the skills, knowledge and experience to perform their roles. Senior managers were visible in the wards and staff felt respected, supported and valued by the organisation and were able to give feedback
- The hospital provided safe care and treatment and the wards were clean
- Staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and all ward teams had access to a range of specialists
- Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and understood each patient’s individual needs, including personal, cultural, social and religious needs. They also involved patients and carers in care decisions
- The management of safeguarding procedures had been improved. A safeguarding lead had been appointed and staff were trained and understood how to recognise and protect patients from abuse.
However,there were some areas of concern:
- Across the hospital, there was a high number of registered nurse vacancies (60%). Although bank and agency staff were being used to provide support, there were still not enough staff to cover the gaps in patient care. Agency staff did not have access to a patient’s electronic records
- Patients in the acute and long stay wards had limited opportunities for occupational therapy, due to staff vacancies
- Some patient records were not always comprehensive or updated regularly. This included care plans, risk assessments and mental capacity records
- Clinical rooms needed cleaning and were poorly organised. Checks on emergency equipment were not being completed and key items, such as defibrillation pads, were missing
- There were outstanding maintenance issues in the long stay and rehabilitation wards, such as broken automatic door stops, and two bedrooms were being used for storage.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on our website.
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