The Priory Hospital Market Weighton

Updated 8 April 2022

The Priory Hospital Market Weighton is an independent mental health hospital providing long stay rehabilitation for up to 15 male patients. It is located in a rural town between the cities of Hull and York.

The hospital is registered to carry out the following regulated activities:

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

At the time of the inspection, the hospital had a registered manager who had been in place for five months.

The hospital had one ward providing care and treatment for patients with severe and enduring mental health conditions, learning disabilities, those who could be on the autistic spectrum and those who may have complex presentations with behaviours that challenge. At the time of the inspection, there were 13 patients at the hospital, 12 of whom were detained under the Mental Health Act and one patient on a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard. There were five patients with a diagnosis of a learning disability or autism.

We last inspected the Priory Hospital Market Weighton in February 2018. At that time, the service was rated overall outstanding. We rated good in the safe and effective domains and outstanding in the caring, responsive and well-led domains.

What people who use the service say

We are improving how we hear people’s experience and views on services, when they have limited verbal communication. We have trained some CQC team members to use a symbol-based communication tool. We checked that this was a suitable communication method and that people were happy to use it with us. We did this by reading their care and communication plans and speaking to staff or relatives and the person themselves. In this report, we used this communication tool with one person to tell us their experience

We spoke with eight patients who were staying at the hospital during our inspection. They told us they liked the staff and were treated well. They told us that they felt staff listened to them and involved them in their care.

Two patients told us they needed more therapies and activities and there was little to do, especially on a weekend. One patient told us they do not get 1:1 time with their named nurse. Three patients were unclear what their plans for discharge were and what was expected of them to achieve this.

We spoke with the family members of five patients who were staying at the hospital. They were positive in relation to staff treating their family members with dignity and respect. They told us they were invited to multi-disciplinary meetings to discuss their family member. However, two relatives told us the hospital did not have enough activities to keep the patients active, or that staff did not provide enough encouragement to promote independence.

Updated 8 April 2022

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it. Although, this hospital was not a specialist service for people with a learning disability, they did provide care for five patients with a learning disability or autism. We have therefore applied this guidance.

Our rating of this service went down. We rated it as requires improvement because:

• People’s risks assessments and management plans were not robust to assure staff of the patient’s safety.
• People could not access assistance if required in an emergency in the occupational therapy building.
• People did not have clear goal orientated plans for discharge and did not have access to all the required specialists and therapies suitable to ensure they did not spend longer than necessary in hospital.
• The facilities were not suitable to promote the treatment, privacy and dignity for people with mobility difficulties.

However:

• People’s care and support was provided in a clean, well-furnished and well-maintained environment.
• The service had sufficient, appropriately skilled staff to keep them safe.
• People were protected from abuse and poor care . Staff followed good practice with respect to safeguarding and minimised the use of restrictive practices.
• Staff had the skills required to develop and implement good positive behaviour support plans to enable them to work with patients who displayed behaviour that staff found challenging.
• People received kind and compassionate care from staff who protected and respected their privacy and dignity.
• Staff understood their roles and responsibilities under the Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
• People and those important to them, including advocates, were actively involved in planning their care.

Updated 12 October 2015

The building was clean, well maintained and comfortably furnished. Systems were in place to monitor the safety of patients, staff and the environment. Medication was managed safely.

Staffing levels were maintained at a level that ensured patients were safe and received the treatment they needed. Staff were recruited following checks of their professional status and to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people.

Staff understood their responsibilities in reporting any safeguarding. Staff had completed their mandatory training this meant they had the skills to provide a safe and effective service.

Care records had clear plans and guidance for staff on how to support patients who used the service. These records were reviewed and updated regularly.

There were good systems in place to support adherence to the Mental Health Act and MHA Code of Practice. The records we saw relating to the Act were generally well kept. We saw that the provider had systems in place to assess and record patients’ mental capacity to make decisions and develop care plans for any needs.

We observed positive interactions between staff and patients. Patients were treated with compassion and empathy. Patients’ were involved in planning their care.

Information on advocacy, the complaints process and Mental Health Act (MHA) rights was available to read on noticeboards.

Staff received regular supervision and appraisal. Clinical and non-clinical staff could access further training to ensure they had the skills needed to carry out their role.

Staff were confident in raising concerns about practise and risks to patients. They told us that if they raised any issues with the director they felt listened to and confident action would be taken.

They carried out internal audits and there was a corporate team working on quality and improvement and they visited the hospital every three months.

Updated 8 April 2022

See overall summary for details.