Cygnet Hospital Bierley told to improve after CQC inspection

Inspectors raised a number of serious concerns about Cygnet Hospital Bierley, including “several incidents” where staff working on one ward may have deliberately abused patients.

The report also highlighted issues where staff had raised concerns about racial discrimination at work and evidence suggested “sufficient action” was not taken.   

The health and social care watchdog handed out an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’ following an inspection across four dates in November 2022.

The report, published on January 10, 2023, saw the service rated ‘requires improvement’ for safety, leadership, responsiveness, effectiveness and the inspection question, ‘is the service caring?’.

It was also rated ‘requires improvement’ for the inspection questions, ‘Are Forensic inpatient or secure wards safe/effective/caring/responsive/well-led?’.

The mental health hospital, which is registered to care for up to 56 male and female patients across four wards, has a troubled history.

The service was branded ‘inadequate’ in its previous inspection across January and February in 2022 and ‘requires improvement’ in August 2021.

In early 2022, the hospital was found to be in breach of six regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Following its latest report, a spokesperson for Cygnet Healthcare said staff had already “strengthened” its response to potential incidents.

Meanwhile the allegations of abuse referenced in the report remain under investigation.

Two wards – Bronte and Shelley - were open at the time of the newest inspection.

The CQC’s report said: “Since our last inspection there had been several incidents on one ward where staff may have deliberately abused patients, this was under investigation at the time of our inspection and the provider had suspended all staff involved.”

On this matter, the report added: “Since our last inspection there had been a number of safeguarding concerns raised in relation to staff behaving abusively towards patients on Shelley ward in October 2022, which were identified through the provider’s regime of CCTV spot checks.

“These incidents had been observed by other staff on the ward without any action being taken or safeguarding concerns raised. The provider responded appropriately to these concerns and all staff who had participated in and/or observed these incidents had been suspended.

“A further incident of inappropriate staff behaviour towards a patient on Shelley ward occurred later in October 2022, again the staff member was suspended and appropriate action was ongoing by the provider to investigate.”

The report added: “Patients did not always receive adequate support following incidents of self-harm to prevent a similar incident recurring.

“Staff had not always received timely emergency life support training updates at a level appropriate to their role.

“Some patients had a named nurse who was on long term leave from the hospital and so did not have regular access to one to one support from a member of ward based staff.

“Agency staff working at the hospital had not always received an induction specific to the ward they were working on. Some staff raised concerns about experiencing racial discrimination at work and we did not see evidence that the provider had taken sufficient action to promote equality, diversity and inclusion at the hospital.”

However the report found people were “mostly happy” with their care and that “staff treated them with respect and kindness”.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Cygnet Hospital Bierley said: “Since the inspection last November we have focused significant resource on ensuring improvements are made to address the challenges raised by the CQC. We take their feedback seriously and were reassured that the CQC also identified positive aspects in the care we provide, including a range of treatments suitable to the needs of the patients and in line with national best practice. The report also stated staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans and that the service was well-managed.

"Patient safety is always our priority and we have zero tolerance of abuse. The allegation referenced in the report remains under investigation.

“We have strengthened our systems to ensure incidents are recognised and managed effectively. We will continue to work closely with patients and their loved ones to hear their feedback, make sure they feel listened to, and act upon it when appropriate.

“We will continue to embed our improvements and look forward to being able to demonstrate the positive changes we are making at the next inspection.”

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