CQC has today (Friday 2 October) received a request from Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust to register non-inpatient mental healthcare services (outpatient services, electroconvulsive therapy, and Section 136 place of safety) from Bootham Park Hospital in York.
CQC carried out an unannounced inspection of the psychiatric inpatient services within Bootham Park Hospital on 9 and 10 September 2015, when it was run by Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust. The contract to provide these services had recently been awarded to Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.
CQC inspectors had previously had concerns with the delay in Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust implementing CQC's recommendations from an earlier inspection.
Specifically, CQC's inspectors were concerned about the risk of suicide or serious harm to patients because the trust had not removed potential ligature points within the building. In addition, patients were at risk of serious scalding because of unregulated high water temperatures. Elsewhere, CQC's inspectors found that nursing staff were unable to observe all parts of the wards due to the layout of the building and inspectors found a lack of call alarms for patients, insufficient staffing numbers, and poor hygiene and infection control in two of the hospital's wards.
CQC will publish the full report from this inspection in due course.
In response to those concerns, on 24 September CQC formally requested Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust (working with its local partners) to move the inpatients to alternative services in the area, which it did by midnight on Wednesday 30 September.
These actions were taken in the best interests of the patients who were receiving care at the unit, so that they could receive, safe and high-quality care in appropriate settings.
Now that CQC has received a request from Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust to provide outpatient psychiatric care from Bootham Park Hospital, the Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, has asked the registration and mental health teams within CQC to consider this as quickly as possible.
Inspectors will be asked to ensure that patient safety at Bootham Park Hospital is given priority.