A BRADFORD mental health hospital still needs to improve, according to the latest report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 

Inspectors from the health watchdog visited the Cygnet Hospital in Bierley on two dates in May this year and judged it to be ‘requires improvement’ overall, as well as in the key questions relating to safety, effectiveness, how caring the hospital is and if it is well-led.

The hospital, on Bierley Lane, is registered to provide care for up to 56 male and female patients across four different inpatient wards.

Inspectors said while the service “largely performed well”, it did not meet some legal requirements, so it could not receive a higher rating.

The report said: “The service did not always use systems and processes to safely prescribe, administer, record and store medicines.

“Staff did not always regularly review the effects of medications on each patient’s mental and physical health.

"Staff did not always have easy access to clinical information, and it was not easy for them to maintain high quality clinical records – whether paper-based or electronic. On the low secure forensic wards, admission assessment documents were not always available for review and care records were not always updated as needed.

"Care plans did not always reflect patients’ assessed needs, or were always personalised, holistic and recovery oriented.”

It also said ward teams “did not always have access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients on the wards”.

However, the report said all wards were safe, clean and well equipped. They were also said to be well furnished, well maintained and fit for purpose.

Inspectors said the hospital had enough nursing and medical staff who had received basic training to keep people safe from avoidable harm and staff understood how to protect patients from abuse.

"Managers made sure they had staff with the range of skills needed to provide high quality care," saud the report.

"They supported staff with appraisals, supervision and opportunities to update and further develop their skills."

A spokesperson for Cygnet Hospital Bierley said of the report: “We are pleased that the latest CQC report acknowledges that Cygnet Hospital Bierley is largely performing well as a service and that the inspectors have improved our rating for our psychiatric intensive care unit to Good. Across all four inpatient wards, inspectors said they found that staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, and respected patients’ privacy and dignity.

“We care for people at often the most difficult time in their lives, so we are pleased that the report also reflects that our staff achieve the right balance between maintaining safety and providing the least restrictive environment possible to support patient recovery, and follow best practice when managing challenging behaviour.

"The high use of agency staff which contributed to the CQC maintaining our previous overall rating is a national issue related to a widely acknowledged ongoing shortage of nurses, particularly in mental health care. However, we are making changes to address the outstanding concerns raised by the report, including a recruitment drive, and these are seeing good results.”