Human waste, blood and dried food found on hospital floor
A NOTTINGHAM mental health hospital has been placed in special measures after inspectors found it to be “unacceptable”.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Priory Hospital Arnold, run by the Priory Group, in March and found there was human waste, blood and dried food on the floors and walls.
Toilets were dirty, and a bag of urine – which had been left for several days – was found.
The CQC rated the independent mental health service Inadequate after it found people were being cared for in an unsanitary environment.
The hospital cares for adults with chronic mental health needs, including those sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and was previously rated Requires Improvement.
A spokesperson said the hospital had done “a significant amount of work” in the weeks following the inspection, which was prompted by information from anonymous sources who reported uncleanliness and gaps in patient safety measures.
The report states that two wards were “dirty” during the inspection and “the bath on Clumber Ward appeared to not have been cleaned since its last use”.
It added: “We saw toilets had not been cleaned and were full of urine and faeces. On Rufford Ward we found ants on the entrance into the seclusion room. We found all three seclusion rooms were dirty and had what appeared to be blood, faeces and dried food and sputum on the floors and walls.”
Inspectors found there were ligature risks in patient areas, and this danger was heightened by problems with the alarm system used to alert staff to emergencies.
“The provider previously notified us of the death of a patient on Newstead Ward last year after tying a ligature,” the report said.
Behind these issues was a lack of oversight from leaders, and a reliance on agency staff who did not know the service’s patients.
Dr Kevin Cleary, CQC deputy chief inspector of hospitals and lead for mental health, said: “Standards of cleanliness at Priory Hospital Arnold were well below what people should be able to expect, and the unacceptable environment presented risks to both patients and staff. I am also concerned that although we had previously raised ligature risks with the hospital’s leaders, they had not comprehensively acted to protect patients at risk of self-harming.
“However, I am pleased that the service began addressing inspectors’ hygiene concerns before the inspection concluded, and staff should be commended for reducing the use of restraint.
“We are monitoring the hospital closely and will take further action to protect people if we are not assured care is being delivered safely.”
The report added that some nursing staff did not know the patients as they were agency workers.
It said: “The provider told us on 30 March 2021 there were vacancies for 18 registered nurses but two of these posts had been recruited to.”
The report did state that staff worked to de-escalate situations so that patients were only restrained or secluded as a last resort.
Staff were also supported to ensure patients were safeguarded from the risk of abuse.
If there is insufficient improvement, CQC will use its enforcement powers further to protect patients from the risk of harm and hold the services’ leaders to account.
Following the inspection, CQC told the Priory Group that it must make several improvements at Priory Hospital Arnold, including:
Assessing and mitigating ligature risks, and training all staff in ligature risk management
Always following infection control procedures
Ensuring all required staff training is undertaken Maintaining safe staffing levels Ensuring all wards and equipment are clean and safely maintained
Ensuring audits and governance systems fully identify and assess risks to patients and staff, and drive improvements.
A hospital spokesman said: “A significant amount of work has taken place since the CQC visited in March to improve procedures, governance, and staff training.
“This work has been overseen by a new hospital director and senior management, and we already have a significantly improved environment for our patients. We provided assurance to the CQC that effective and rigorous systems around safety, hygiene, and infection control are in place.
“Our detailed action plans have been shared regularly with both the CQC and local commissioning organisations and positive feedback from both demonstrate that progress has and will continue to be made, and that the hospital is responding quickly and positively to addressing the issues.”