Barnt Green

Updated 3 May 2023

Priory Barnt Green is a 23 bedded independent hospital in Lickey Hills, Birmingham, providing care, treatment and rehabilitation services to people who are experiencing mental health issues. It registered with the Care Quality Commission in August 2020 for the following regulated activities:

• Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

The hospital comprises of 2 wards. Beacon ward is a 10 bedded mixed gender private acute ward and Jubilee ward is a 13 bedded mixed gender NHS acute ward.

Priory Barnt Green has a register manager. The first inspection took place in June 2021 and was rated as inadequate. The provider was found to be in breach of the following:

Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014

Regulation 9 Person Centred Care (1)

Regulation 10 Dignity and Respect (1)

Regulation 12 Safe Care and Treatment (1)

Regulation 17 Good Governance (1)

Regulation 18 Staffing (1) (2)

The service was placed in special measures, and we served an urgent notice of decision to impose conditions on the registration as a service provider in respect of the regulated activities. The following conditions were imposed:

1. The registered provider must not admit any service users to any ward at Priory Barnt Green hospital without prior written agreement of the Care Quality Commission.

2. The registered provider must provide the Care Quality Commission with a report by 12 Noon every day setting out the steps it has taken to discharge service users to appropriate settings, until all service users at Priory Barnt Green had been discharged from the location.

Immediately following the inspection, the provider took the decision to close the ward and transfer patients to other services. The provider went into dormancy.

The Care Quality Commission lifted the conditions on the service in March 2022 and the hospital then opened a private ward. The hospital admitted its first patient to the private ward on 4 April 2022 and second on 20 April 2022.

This inspection was carried out as a routine comprehensive since it re-opened and following actions and improvements the provider has taken.

What people who use the service say

We spoke with 6 patients who were receiving care across the hospital.

Of the 6 patients, 2 expressed that they did not feel safe at the hospital.

4 patients told us that there were always staff about who were very helpful and there were a lot of therapeutic activities available.

1 patient told us that the ‘staff are the best thing about the place,’ and that ‘the place was nothing like a usual mental health hospital.’

1 patient told us ‘The place was like staying in a plush hotel.’

Most patients told us they were involved in their care planning and staff supported them.

Updated 3 May 2023

Our rating of this location improved. We rated it as requires improvement because:

• The provider had failed to ensure that staff had access to Mental Health Act detention paperwork and failed to identify that 2 patients’ detention had lapsed.
• Staff did not adequately monitor the physical health of all patients after they had been banging their heads.
• Staff had not completed discharge plans for all patients on both Jubilee and Beacon wards.
• Patients told us, and care records confirmed, that they were not involved in writing their care plans on Jubilee ward.
• The service was not always well led, and some governance processes did not always ensure that the ward procedures ran smoothly.

However:

• The service had made improvements since reopening and is not in special measures.
• The service provided safe care and there was a range of activities for patients to engage in. The ward environments were safe and clean and well-furnished. There was positive feedback about the food and the chef.
• The wards had enough nurses and doctors who were caring. Staff assessed and managed risk well. They minimised the use of restrictive practices, managed medicines safely and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. They provided a range of treatments suitable to the needs of the patients and in line with national guidance about best practice. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• The ward teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients on the wards. Managers ensured that these staff received training, supervision and appraisal. There was positive feedback from staff about induction, leadership and support.
• The ward staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and with those outside the ward who would have a role in providing aftercare.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients. They actively involved patients and families and carers in care decisions.
• The service managed beds well so that a bed was always available locally to a person who would benefit from admission and patients were discharged promptly once their condition warranted this.

Updated 3 May 2023

Our rating of this location improved. We rated it as requires improvement because:

• The provider had failed to ensure that staff had access to Mental Health Act detention paperwork and failed to identify that 2 patients’ detention had lapsed.
• Staff did not adequately monitor the physical health of all patients after they had been banging their heads.
• Staff had not completed discharge plans for all patients on both Jubilee and Beacon wards.
• Patients told us, and care records confirmed, that they were not involved in writing their care plans on Jubilee ward.
• The service was not always well led, and some governance processes did not always ensure that the ward procedures ran smoothly.

However:

• The service had made improvements since reopening and is not in special measures.
• The service provided safe care and there was a range of activities for patients to engage in. The ward environments were safe and clean and well-furnished. There was positive feedback about the food and the chef.
• The wards had enough nurses and doctors who were caring. Staff assessed and managed risk well. They minimised the use of restrictive practices, managed medicines safely and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. They provided a range of treatments suitable to the needs of the patients and in line with national guidance about best practice. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• The ward teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients on the wards. Managers ensured that these staff received training, supervision and appraisal. There was positive feedback from staff about induction, leadership and support.
• The ward staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and with those outside the ward who would have a role in providing aftercare.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients. They actively involved patients and families and carers in care decisions.
• The service managed beds well so that a bed was always available locally to a person who would benefit from admission and patients were discharged promptly once their condition warranted this.