St Andrew's Healthcare - Essex shows improvement in CQC inspection
The hospital, which provides residential care for adults with mental health needs, underwent scrutiny to assess the quality and safety of care provided to its patients.
St Andrew's Healthcare in North Benfleet, Essex, has made significant strides in improving its services, according to the recent inspection conducted by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The hospital, which provides residential care for adults with mental health needs, underwent scrutiny to assess the quality and safety of care provided to its patients.
The CQC's inspection comes as a follow-up to their previous visit in June 2022, where St Andrew's received a warning notice regarding safety and effectiveness issues.
The inspection results have shown progress, with St Andrew's Healthcare's overall rating shifting from "inadequate" to "requires improvement."
One of the most significant improvements noted in the inspection report was in the areas of safety and effectiveness, both of which have been upgraded from "inadequate" to "good."
Moreover, the caring and well-led aspects of St Andrew's Healthcare have also improved from "requires improvement" to "good." The CQC highlighted the efforts of the hospital staff, who were observed working together efficiently and treating patients with compassion and kindness.
Despite these advancements, there are areas that still require attention.
The hospital's responsiveness remains rated as "requires improvement," indicating that further measures need to be taken to enhance the hospital's responsiveness to patients' needs.
The CQC inspection looked at three core services at the location: the acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units (PICU), forensic inpatient wards, and long stay and rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults. Encouragingly, the acute wards for adults of working age and PICU, as well as the forensic inpatient wards, all improved from "requires improvement" to "good."
However, the long stay and rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults still require further improvement. The CQC flagged issues related to the lack of access to education and work opportunities for patients, as well as the need for more nursing and support staff on all shifts to ensure patient safety.
Ceri Morris-Williams, CQC deputy director of operations in the east of England, acknowledged the progress made by St Andrew's Healthcare. "We were pleased to see there had been progress since our last inspection, with the managers addressing the issues we told them to at our last inspection, which is why the warning notice we issued is no longer active. However, there is still work that needs to be done," said Morris-Williams.
While the hospital has shown improvements in various aspects of care, the CQC will continue to closely monitor St Andrew's Healthcare to ensure that they continue to take action on the identified areas. The hospital's commitment to ongoing improvement will undoubtedly play a crucial role in providing the care and help that patients deserve.
A trust spokesperson said: “We are pleased the CQC has recognised the progress made across our Essex hospital over the last year, and we are encouraged to see we are rated as Good in the safe, effective, caring and well-led sections of the report. “While we accept there's still work to be done, we are proud of the improvements we have made, particularly in addressing staffing challenges and minimising the use of restrictive practices.
“We’re particularly pleased the report has highlighted the way in which our staff treat people with compassion and kindness, while understanding their individual needs and actively involving families and carers in care decisions. The CQC also noted that our patients’ care plans are holistic and recovery orientated, and that our staff work well as a multidisciplinary team.
“We are committed to continuous improvement, and as a Charity we are focussed on helping people to transform their lives. We look forward to the CQC re-inspecting our service in the future.”