A BANNED staff member being on the books of a Bradford hospital is one of the reasons it has been rated inadequate in its most recent report.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited Cygnet Hospital Bierley Bradford, on four dates in January and February this year, after the last inspection in August 2021 found that ‘it required improvement’.

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

But during the latest inspection, a catalogue of concerns was logged, including the profile of a banned agency nurse being found within the agency staff profiles with no mention that they were banned and issues within the work culture that resulted in a high turn-over of staff.

Overall, the main areas of concern were the safety and leadership of the service.
The report states that the service did not have enough nursing staff, who knew the patients and received basic information to keep people safe from avoidable harm.

Between October 2021 and February 2022, one patient was able to ligature on a known risk item six separate times whilst being observed by staff, and four other patients told the inspectors that they do not feel safe when agency staff are on shift.

In response, a spokesperson for Cygnet Hospital Bierley said: “Since the inspection in February, we have taken decisive steps to address the concerns raised by the CQC.

“This has included welcoming a significant number of new staff members to our team at the hospital, including multi-disciplinary specialists, with more people on the way, and this has had a positive impact on morale and also helped to reduce the use of agency workers.”

Across all three core services, there was a turnover rate of 52 per cent for the previous 12 months and from August 2021 to January 2022, 49 members of staff had left the hospital.

In addition, whilst the inspection was going on, an independent investigation was being carried out after an anonymous whistleblower alleging racism at the service had been sent to Lord Patel of Bradford, resulting in four staff members being suspended.

This is just one of 32 whistleblowing received by the Care Quality Commission in the previous six months.

The Cygnet Hospital spokesperson added: “While the ongoing nationwide shortage of mental health staff has put a strain on the hospital and played a part in the issues raised in the report, we are working hard to make improvements and establish an open and supportive culture. "

The service has been placed into special measures until its next inpection in six months time.