Bradford mental health hospital put back in special measures

An independent mental health hospital has been placed into special measures after being rated inadequate by inspectors.

Cygnet Hospital Wyke, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, fell "below the standard that people have the right to expect", the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

The men's hospital was previously placed in special measures in 2019, where it remained until February 2021.

A spokesperson for the hospital said the management was "disappointed with the outcome".

The CQC said it now expected the hospital to take urgent action to keep people safe.

Cygnet Hospital is a 46-bed hospital for men, with a specialised autism spectrum disorder service, a psychiatric care intensive service (PICU) and an acute ward.

Its overall rating has dropped from requires improvement to inadequate.

The hospital's services are rated according to whether inspectors found them to be safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

In the report, Safe has again been rated as 'inadequate'. Effective, Caring and Responsive have been re-rated as ''requires improvement'.

The CQC report found issues around patient care, and that wards were not always safe, clean, well-equipped or fit for purpose.

It said there was food on the floor, stained furniture, cigarette ends in the lounge and some of the furniture was ripped.

Issues around medicine management were also raised.

The hospital said it acknowledged the criticism but felt "the outcome does not reflect the whole hospital setting, nor does it reflect wider feedback from professional stakeholders and authorities who regularly visit and inspect the service".

A spokesperson said it had requested a review of this rating and would welcome a return visit by the inspection team using the CQC’s new assessment framework, which calculates ratings differently.

As it has been placed in special measures, the hospital will be kept under close review to make sure people are safe and, if CQC do not propose to cancel their registration, there will be a re-inspection to check for significant improvements.

The hospital management has been issued with a warning notice, to focus their attention on making significant, rapid improvements to systems and processes around medicine management, its paper records' system, as well as suitability of the environment for autistic people and people with a learning disability.

Sheila Grant, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said issues were found around completing medicine records - but previous advice given on how to improve had not been taken.

She said: “Over the last few years, Cygnet Hospital Wyke has a history of providing care which is below the standard that people have a right to expect, despite several interventions by CQC.

"There is a history of us telling the hospital where they need to improve, but the changes not being widespread, rapid, or embedded well enough to be sustained, which is what we found again at this most recent inspection.

"It’s also why we have placed them into special measures, which they exited in February 2021, in order to keep people safe."

Ms Grant said staff "weren’t always completing medicine records appropriately" - sometimes filling in records retrospectively.

"This meant people were put at unnecessary risk of harm from potential mistakes being made," she said.

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