Cygnet Appletree hasmade a series of senior management appointments after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) investigation identified risks to patient safety at the Durham-based mental health hospital.
It said it has recruited a new hospital director along with safeguarding and quality improvement leads while also improving its governance and compliance procedures
The CQC inspection in April followed concerns of an increase in abuse between patients and about a number of internal staff moves which affected the management of the service.
Following this inspection, the CQC imposed urgent conditions upon Cygnet Appletree to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people. This included restricting new admissions into the service, without prior written approval of CQC.
However, Cygnet Appletree has since made the necessary changes and is again allowed to admit people.
Required improvements
The CQC ordered the hospital make a number of improvements following its inspection.
CQC head of hospital inspection for mental health Brian Cranna, said the regulator was deeply concerned about the safety and quality of care being delivered to people, with high levels of restrictive practices being used, including restraint and the use of rapid tranquilisation.
“Staff did not always attempt to use less restrictive options first which is unacceptable,” he said.
“We found that not all risks had been identified or action taken to mitigate these and there were ineffective systems in place to monitor these interventions.
“There were ligature risks which had not been identified and no action had been taken to minimise these risks to patients.
“We also found that the leadership team had been unable to implement and sustain actions to make improvements following our previous inspection of the service in August 2020.”
Cranna noted that following this inspection, the CQC immediately took urgent action to stop new admissions to the service and all patients were transferred to other services to ensure they received the appropriate care they required.
“This allowed Cygnet to carry out the work they urgently needed to complete,” Cranna continued.
“Cygnet Appletree have now made the necessary changes and can admit people to the service. We continue to work closely with Cygnet and local stakeholders and will return shortly to check on progress.”
Recruitment and governance
In response, a spokesperson for Cygnet Appletree said: “In the months since this inspection, all the necessary changes required by the CQC have been completed and the progress we have made has led to the CQC lifting its earlier restrictions so that we are able to accept new admissions.
“We move forward with strengthened local leadership, including a new hospital director and safeguarding and quality improvement leads.
“Among extensive changes, we have carried out additional staff training with a focus on creating a safe environment that embodies our principles of treating patients with dignity and respect.”
The hospital said following internal audits, it had also put in place robust governance and compliance procedures to ensure it was able to quickly identify and manage any risks.
“We continue to work closely and collaboratively with the CQC and look forward to being able to demonstrate our continued progress at agreed monthly engagement meetings and at future inspections with a clear focus on sustaining a quality service,” it added.