Inspectors Find Failures At Hellesdon Hospital

19 February 2014, 06:53 | Updated: 19 February 2014, 14:40

Inspectors have found a Norfolk hospital is failing in two of the five key areas they looked at.

Hellesdon Hospital looks after vulnerable patients like those with learning difficulties and mental health problems, but when the inspectors visited at the start of January they found failures in two of the five key areas.

North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb told Heart: “The Care Quality Commission has found that the Hospital is sometimes failing to respect privacy, dignity and independence, and is also not meeting standards for care and welfare.  It is now critical that the Trust responds with a genuine sense of urgency to rectify the concerns raised by the CQC.
 
“I am particular concerned at the suggestion that people are spending longer in hospital than is necessary.  Not only is it important to free up beds for those who need them most, but most people with mental health problems are better-off being looked properly after in the community.  Some people waited up to two months to be assessed by the community service, and this is simply not acceptable.
 
“It is important to recognise that the CQC also found examples of excellent care at Hellesdon.  However, in some cases services have not been good enough, and this must be addressed urgently.”

You can see the full report from the CQC here

In response to the report, Dr Jane Sayer, Director of Nursing, Quality and Patient Safety for Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The CQC's report, on the whole, paints a positive picture of services at Hellesdon Hospital but it does raise two important issues on which we have already taken action.

"Although one issue is described as having 'minor' impact and the other 'moderate', we consider these concerns to be vital and have taken urgent steps to put them right.

"A 'minor impact' concern was raised about respecting and involving the people who use our services. For example, although the report highlights how many patients were involved in their care, the written care plans for each patient were not always signed by the person receiving that care. We have taken action to ensure the right care is not just agreed with the patient, but is also shown on records to be agreed. We are also planning improvements to ward environments.

"A 'moderate impact' concern was raised about waiting times for people to be assessed by our community teams. We have already taken steps to recruit more mental health nurses, work extra weekend shifts and monitor more closely the waiting times and experience of our service users.

"It is important to note that much of the report praises our services at Hellesdon Hospital. For example, the way our staff interact with patients, and ensure they have access to information including how to raise concerns. However, nothing is more important than providing the right care for people and the vast majority of those we serve have a positive and helpful experience. This CQC report helps us make further, important improvements."