- Independent mental health service
Cygnet Churchill
Report from 7 November 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings - Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 19 March to 13 June 2024. At the time of our onsite assessment, Cygnet Churchill was a 57-bed inpatient mental health hospital for men. It had 1 ward providing acute mental health services for adults of working age (Juniper Ward), and 3 wards providing long stay rehabilitation services. We only assessed Juniper Ward during this assessment. A second acute mental health ward, Palm Court, was due to open in August 2024 following the closure of 1 of the rehabilitation wards during the assessment. Palm Court did not form part of this assessment. This was a responsive assessment following concerns we had received related to Juniper Ward. These included concerns related to staff treatment of patients, staffing levels and significant changes to the staffing team, and 2 serious incidents that had occurred on the ward. This assessment was a combination of onsite and offsite assessment. Cygnet Churchill was last inspected in October 2022 when it was rated good overall, with requires improvement (RI) under safe. This assessment of the acute mental health ward was rated as RI overall with RI in safe and well-led. During this assessment we found 5 breaches of the legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, premises and equipment, dignity and respect, complaints, and governance. However, the ward had made improvements in relation to breaches from the previous inspection. Staff worked well with partner agencies to provide continuity of care between services, patients could provide feedback about the ward, staff felt supported by managers and reported a positive culture of learning and development, and there had been improvements in staffing. We will ask the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 7 patients, 5 carers, a representative from the NHS Trust who commissioned beds on the ward, and an independent mental health advocate who visited the ward regularly. Some patients we spoke with said they did not always feel they were treated with kindness, compassion and dignity in their day-to-day care and support. Some patients said they had to wait a long time for staff to address their requests on the ward and felt staff were in the office a lot. Feedback from carers was mixed, with some saying not all staff respected the rights or wishes of their relative. Most carers we spoke with said communication from staff was poor and found it challenging to get information, but most carers felt some or all staff had the training required to meet the needs of their relative. We observed 2 unkind interactions by staff members towards patients during our onsite assessment. However, some patients and carers we spoke with felt staff were kind and caring, and most patients said they felt safe on the ward. The most recent patient survey, completed in December 2023, contained very positive feedback about staff. Patients were encouraged to provide regular feedback about their care and the ward environment, and we saw evidence of changes being made in response to this. The independent mental health advocate reported the ward appeared positive and engaging. They said staff made referrals to advocates on behalf of patients and informed patients of their rights.