Health and social care provider Coveberry has committed to continuing action after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection rated its Cedar House hospital has requiring improvement.
Coveberry took over management of the location in November 2020 and this was the first CQC inspection of the service under the new provider. Under the previous provider the service was rated inadequate overall.
Despite the improvement, the CQC told Coveberry further work was needed at Cedar House in Canterbury, following a comprehensive inspection in June.
The specialist hospital offers low secure services for people with a learning disability or autistic people who have a forensic history, challenging behaviour and complex mental health needs. The service has six wards and capacity for 39 people.
While inspectors found that Coveberry had made some improvements to the service, including decorating and adding new flooring, bathrooms and kitchens on some wards, inspectors reported that further improvements and repairs still needed to be made to ensure that all wards were fully fit for purpose.
The service has also been rated as requiring improvement for being safe, effective and well-led. It was rated good for being caring and responsive.
Inspectors’ findings
Inspectors uncovered a number of issues including inadequate staffing, that staff did not always feel supported or given supervision according to the provider’s policy, that care records were not always easy to find and that positive behaviour support plans were not used widely enough.
However, inspectors also found that leaders were knowledgeable and had the skills to perform their roles, patients received kind and compassionate care, that risks were assessed regularly and managed safely, that patients were kept safe from abuse and that patients had clear plans in place to support them to return home or move to a community setting as appropriate.
Continued monitoring
CQC head of hospital inspection for mental health Karen Bennett-Wilson said: “We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities (where appropriate) that most people take for granted.
“However, the design and layout of the hospital building and the overall size and scale of the service is institutional and does not support the delivery of modern, effective care for people with a learning disability or autistic people.
“Although the provider has endeavoured to make improvements to the environment, further work still needs to be done to ensure that people using the service are in an environment that is safe, well maintained and meets their physical and sensory needs.”
She noted that the provider does have a plan in place to address the issues found, and the regulator will continue to monitor the service to ensure that the improvements were made in a timely manner.
Committed to continuing improvements
In response, a spokesperson for Cedar House said: “Upon taking control of Cedar House, Coveberry immediately embarked upon a programme of improvement to upgrade the standard of services, facilities and the environment as well as enhance training support for staff.
“Coveberry is confident that progress has been made at Cedar House, and is pleased that the regulator is acknowledging this progress by upgrading the rating to requires improvement.
“However, Coveberry acknowledges that more work is required and is committed to continuing improvements to the quality of care at the hospital.”