‘Uncomfortably hot’ Derbyshire mental health ward with dirty kitchen ‘posing risk of infection’ requires improvement

Cygnet Views is an independent hospital in Matlock managed by Cygnet Learning Disabilities Midlands Limited. The hospital provides care for up to 10 women who have a learning disability or autism and complex mental health needs.

A Care Quality Commission report based on an inspection carried out in March and published on May 30, found that the hospital requires improvement in all inspected areas including safety, effectiveness, caring, responsiveness to people’s needs and the way service is led.

In the report, inspectors said: “Due to the design and layout of the hospital the environment was not suitable for people who were experiencing acute mental ill health or who had a history of using ligatures. Staff could not control the heating in the communal areas of the hospital. On the day of our inspection the communal areas were uncomfortably hot.

"We found the splashback and sink in the therapy kitchen was not clean. This meant that there was risk of infection to people using the service.

"Staff were not always following handwashing procedures. There was risk of cross contamination from people’s laundry. Staff had not separated out people’s laundry and there was no process for keeping dirty laundry separate from clean laundry.

"Staff had not cleaned a medicines trolley or inside a clinic room cupboard properly. Managers were not monitoring support staff’s competency or understanding following completion of their online learning disability training. Therefore, some staff were not always confident when working with people with a learning disability and autistic people.

“The admission policy did not identify what measures should be in place if a newly admitted person was later found to be too acute for the service to manage safely.

“Staff did not always follow the new protocol for administering medicines ‘when needed’. Staff had not ensured that the glucose monitors taken in by people using the service were all calibrated.”

However, the CQC was pleased to find that the managers at the hospital ‘were responsive and keen to learn from our inspection findings’.

In the report inspectors said: “Within two weeks of our onsite visit, they had already sent an action plan and evidence of having addressed the issues we raised in our initial feedback.”

A Cygnet spokesperson said: “Although we are disappointed with the outcome of the inspection at Cygnet Views, we have already started making improvements to address the challenges raised by the CQC.

“We take their feedback seriously and were reassured the CQC recognised that the specialist assessments of our full multidisciplinary team were thorough and comprehensive and that, although our registered manager and Head of Care were new to the service, both are experienced in hospital management and caring for people with a learning disability or autism.

“The CQC actively acknowledged that managers at the hospital were responsive and keen to learn from the inspection findings. Within two weeks of the onsite visit, we sent the CQC an action plan and evidence of having addressed the issues raised in the initial feedback.

“Patient safety is always our priority and we will always strive to provide the very highest standards of care. We look forward to being able to demonstrate the improvements we are making at the next inspection.”