Hospital criticised over ‘unqualified staff’

A PSYCHIATRIC hospital where four out of 10 nursing and support posts are vacant has been told to improve urgently after failing an inspection.

Recruitment problems are so acute at The Woodhouse Independent Hospital, in Cheadle, that some wards are entirely staffed by agency workers, who are often overstretched.

Nearly 90 per cent of ward posts are filled with unqualified support workers and, in communal areas, a qualified nurse isn’t always present.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report reveals patients themselves are concerned about the lack of continuity. But despite the difficulties, staff still treat them with ‘compassion and kindness,’ respect their dignity and privacy, and actively involve them in care planning.

Now The Woodhouse – which provides rehabilitation for up to 39 men with learning disabilities, autism, challenging behaviour and patients with sexual offending histories – has been placed in special measures.

Dr Paul Lelliott, the CQC’S deputy chief inspector of hospital and its lead for mental health, said the unit ‘fell short of standards of care and treatment people should be able to expect.’ And he highlighted the ‘inadequate’ staffing as a particular concern.

“Agency workers covered most night shifts, and pressures meant staff were often unable to take rest breaks or have regular one-to-one time with patients,” said Dr Lelliott.

The CQC, which carried out the inspection in June, will re-inspect the hospital within the next six months.

Dr Lelliott added: “If at that stage we find that improvements have not been made, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to protect people’s safety.”

Other issued raised in the report include:

■ Staff don’t monitor the physical health of patients consistently and care plans don’t always reflect their assessed needs;

■ There is a ‘lack of resource at all levels of leadership’;

■ They don’t always follow processes to safely store and manage medicines. Ligature risk assessments have also lacked ‘clear actions’ on how to manage the risks.

The hospital – run by Elysium Healthcare – was judged to be good back in 2017.

The Woodhouse is spread across a number of small units and cottages on the site. These range from a locked rehabilitation ward to self-contained flats. Some patients have been detained under the Mental Health Act and have been referred there for assessment and treatment.

In a statement, a spokesman for the hospital said: “We take the health and wellbeing of those in our care extremely seriously and we are disappointed by the results of the CQC inspection.

“The inspection process is helpful and from it we have identified additional areas where we can strengthen the way we work.

“Following the inspection, we put in place an immediate action plan which clearly sets out how we can better support those we care for and our staff.

“We see this as a positive process that will enable us to improve our service in a measured and timely way and we have already strengthened our management team and developed additional training for staff.

“We will work closely with the CQC over the coming months to demonstrate the improvements we have made We are passionate and motivated to deliver the best care possible so we can move this service forward.”