Norwich mental health hospital closes following inadequate inspection
The hospital in Norwich closed after failing to make any improvements.
A mental health hospital in Norwich has decided to close after failing to make any improvements.
The Care Quality Commission said it's taken action at Jeesal Cawston Park after visiting in March to check on previous concerns and areas where enforcement had been carried out.
It said the provider, which cared for adults with learning disabilities or autism, was unable to demonstrate any improvements despite caring for a significantly less people at the hospital.
As a result of the recent inspection, the service was rated 'inadequate' overall and the CQC began the enforcement process to cancel its registration.
The CQC said following this enforcement action, the provider at the hospital, decided to close on 12th May 2021.
Dr Kevin Cleary, CQC Deputy Chief Inspector of hospitals and lead for mental health said: "When inspectors re-visited Jeesal Cawston Park, it was clear that service leaders were unable to make the necessary improvements vital to providing the appropriate care for the vulnerable people at the hospital.
"We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
"Leaders at Jeesal Cawston Park had failed to ensure the service improved despite continuous interventions by CQC.
"The service has a long history of poor performance and has been in special measures since 2019 with CQC using its civil enforcement powers due consistent failures in meeting standards.
"This is why we took the decision to cancel its registration to ensure people are moved to alternative care settings where they will receive the proper level of care they need".
Areas of concern
The Care Quality Commission said there were many areas of concern identified including:
- The service did not have enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. There were also issues with ligature risk assessments containing inaccurate information.
- Staff did not always monitor the effect of medicines on people's physical health, medicines records were incomplete, and staff did not always follow prescribing instructions.
- The service did not support people through recognised models of care and treatment for people with a learning disability or autistic people.
- The service did not have all the specialists required to be able to provide effective care and treatment and meet people's needs.
- People did not always receive kind and compassionate care from staff. Staff did not always protect and respect people's privacy and dignity or understand each person's individual needs.
- People only had access to a limited range of activities that were mostly self-directed and were not part of planned therapy or care to support them to achieve their goals or discharge.
- The provider did not have a restrictive practice reduction programme or sufficient oversight of restrictive practice and the use of physical restraint was increasing