The Priory Hospital Middleton St George in Darlington is to exit special measures and has been rated good following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The hospital was rated inadequate and placed in special measures in September 2020. When inspectors returned in May this year, they found that significant improvements had been made and the service is no longer in special measures. The service is now rated as good overall and good for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
The hospital, which is run by Affinity Healthcare Limited, is a 101-bed hospital that provides 24-hour support seven days a week for people aged 18 years and over with mental health problems, personality disorders or both.
Brian Cranna, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for mental health, said:
“When we visited The Priory Hospital Middleton St George in Darlington, we were pleased to find that significant improvements had been made since our previous inspection in September last year, and the service is no longer in special measures.
“The wards now have a good track record on safety with managers investigating incidents and sharing lessons learnt with the whole team and the wider service. When things did go wrong, staff apologised and gave patients honest information and good support.
“Most patients told us that staff treated them with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood their individual needs. They also involved patients and families and carers in care decisions.
“This was a well-run service, and all members of the senior management team visited the wards regularly and patients and staff told us they felt senior managers were approachable.”
Inspectors found:
- The service provided safe care. The ward environments were safe and clean. The wards had enough nurses and doctors. Staff assessed and managed risk well. They minimised the use of restrictive practices, managed medicines safely and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding
- Staff knew about any potential ligature points and managed the risks to keep patients safe. Also, these were highlighted on a map in the nurses’ office on each ward
- Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. They provided a range of treatments suitable to the needs of the patients and in line with national guidance about best practice
- The ward teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients on the wards. Managers ensured that these staff received training and appraisal
- Staff understood their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005
- The service was well led, and the governance processes ensured that ward procedures ran smoothly.
However:
- Patients on the female psychiatric intensive care unit (Chester ward), were being made to use plastic cutlery. We were informed shortly afterwards that metal cutlery had been ordered so the provider had addressed this
- Managers did not always ensure staff received regular supervision. An action plan was in place for low compliance with supervision on Birch ward.
We also found some outstanding practice which had been developed by a member of staff. This is a contact card for patients to use when they are out in the community. The card consists on an emoji with key contact numbers. If a patient is lost or confused, they can use the card to contact the hospital or hand this over to a member of the public for them to help.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on our website.
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