Suffolk mental health service rated 'inadequate' after report finds 'elements of patient abuse'
It follows an unannounced inspection in December 2020
Last updated 5th Mar 2021
St John's House in Palgrave has been rated "inadequate" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
It found the 49-bed hospital, which cares for adults living with learning disabilities and associated mental health issues, failed to ensure its patients' safety or dignity.
CQC inspectors attended in December following reports of concerns for patients safety, incident management, staffing and the use of equipment.
According to the report risks to patient safety, dignity and wellbeing were not always well managed, and some interactions demonstrated elements of abuse.
It also found staff hadn't exhausted all methods of de-escalation before physically restraining patients, with some incidents being disproportionate and included unauthorised techniques.
In one incident a patient was pushed to the floor.
The report also found not enough was being done to prevent patients from harming themselves, and on five occasions staff were caught on CCTV asleep when they should have been monitoring patients.
There was also be "significant" gaps in staff training, a heavy dependence on agency workers and a lack of essential equipment.
Personal Protective Equipment to prevent the spread of Covid-19 were also not always used appropriately.
The service was rated Inadequate and was placed in special measures, following a "Good" rating in 2018.
Dr Kevin Cleary, CQC deputy chief inspector of hospitals and lead for mental health, said:
"Our latest inspection of St John’s House found an unacceptable service where some staff interventions had demonstrated elements of patient abuse.
“Services we regulate must inform us when they identify safeguarding concerns to ensure patient safety. This service’s failure to transparently refer all possible instances of abuse to us and thoroughly investigate concerns has put its patients at prolonged risk of harm.
“The hospital must ensure its patients’ dignity and safety by only using physical restraint as a last resort. It must also ensure that it has enough staff, who have received the right training, so that patients receive the quality of care to which they are entitled.
“Following the inspection, we placed the service in special measures and prevented it from admitting new patients.
“Services in special measures are re-inspected within six months. We will use our enforcement powers further if satisfactory improvements have not made by the time of our next inspection.
“We continue to monitor the service closely.”
In response to the report, a spokesperson for Priory Healthcare said: "We do not accept this standard of care in our services and have taken immediate action to deliver improvements at St John’s House.
"Senior management is overseeing the implementation of a comprehensive action plan to address all issues identified in the report, and we have already seen significant improvements in training compliance, the physical environment, upholding patient dignity, incident reporting and care planning.
"We have completed the required actions for 18 of the 24 key areas identified in the report, and are on track to complete the remainder within the timeframe agreed with the CQC.
"The service is now fully compliant with the required infection prevention and control procedures and we are committed to delivering all required improvements as swiftly as possible. Patient safety remains our absolute priority.”