Rhodes Wood Hospital

Updated 29 September 2022

Rhodes Wood hospital is a registered location under the provider of Elysium Healthcare Limited. The hospital comprises of three different wards: Shepherd, Cheshunt and Rainbow wards. Shepherd and Cheshunt wards can accommodate males and females, between the ages of eight and 18 years, who have a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder. Rainbow ward provides care and treatment for young people who may have more complex presentations and can accommodate males and females, between the ages of 12 to 18 years.

There is a total of 38 beds across the hospital. Rainbow ward has 12 beds, Cheshunt ward has 14 beds, and there are a further 12 beds on Shepherd ward.

CQC registers Rhodes Wood Hospital to carry out the following legally regulated services/activities:

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

At the time of this inspection, the hospital had a registered manager.

The hospital has been registered with CQC since October 2016. Since this time, the service has been inspected four times. The overall rating following the first inspection was good in 2017. The second inspection was in April 2019, and the service was rated as inadequate.

Following the inspection in April 2019, the provider was told to make significant improvements in seven areas of care and treatment. We rated the service as inadequate. We then carried out a focussed inspection in October 2019 and found that improvements had been made in six out of the seven areas. However, we were not assured that the provider had made sufficient improvements in the use and documentation of seclusion and long term segregation.

We carried out a further focused inspection in February 2020 to check that the provider had made the required improvements. We found that staff were not adequately trained and knowledgeable about seclusion, and long term segregation. Implementation of the seclusion and long term segregation policy was not carried out in a timely way. Nursing and medical reviews of seclusion and long term segregation were not recorded appropriately in accordance with the Mental Health Act Code of Practice. There were no changes to the ratings as these were focussed inspections.

We took further enforcement action by issuing a warning notice and monitored the service. The provider then made further improvements to service.

What people who use the service say

We spoke with six young people during the inspection. Five out of six young people said staff treated them well and behaved kindly towards them.

All of the young people we spoke with reported feeling safe on the wards and said staff gave them help, emotional support and advice when they needed it.

The young people said staff worked with them to write their care plans and they were offered a copy if they wanted it.

Some young people reported they had moved bedrooms a few times but in almost all cases the reason for this was explained to them.

All of the young people said leave was rarely cancelled, and staff worked hard to ensure the young people went out as prescribed in their treatment plans.

We spoke with five relatives and carers during the inspection. All of the relatives and carers said the staff were kind, caring and respectful. All relatives and carers told us they had been given information about the young person’s care and treatment and that they were invited to meetings such as the multidisciplinary team meeting or the pre discharge meeting. One carer highlighted the staff turnover as a concern.

Updated 29 September 2022

Rhodes Wood hospital is a registered location under the provider of Elysium Healthcare Limited. The hospital comprises of three different wards: Shepherd, Cheshunt and Rainbow wards. Shepherd and Cheshunt wards can accommodate males and females, between the ages of eight and 18 years, who have a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder. Rainbow ward provides care and treatment for young people who may have more complex presentations and can accommodate males and females, between the ages of 12 to 18 years.

Following the last inspection, a number of breaches in regulation were identified. This resulted in conditions being imposed and a warning notice being issued. The provider subsequently took appropriate actions and the conditions were removed. The aim of this inspection was to review the breaches in regulation identified following our last inspection which were contained in the warning notice, and to ensure that the actions previously taken had been fully addressed and embedded in practice.

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

• The wards had enough nurses and doctors. Staff assessed and managed risk well. They minimised the use of restrictive practices, managed medicines safely and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• The ward teams had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of the young people on the wards. Managers ensured that these staff received training, supervision and appraisal. 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 understood and discharged their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They followed good practice with respect to young people’s competency and capacity to consent to or refuse treatment.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients. They actively involved patients, families and carers in care decisions.
• Staff made sure children and young people had access to opportunities for education and work and supported them. Staff also encouraged the young people to maintain relationships and links with their local home community.
• There was compassionate, inclusive and effective leadership at all levels. Leaders had the skills knowledge and experience to deliver high quality personalised care. Leadership development was embedded into the service and there was a strong culture of staff development across all levels of service.
• There were robust and effective governance processes in place which were embedded into the service and enabled leaders to effectively manage the service.

However:

• Not all ward areas were clean or well maintained although all were well furnished and fit for purpose.

Updated 29 September 2022

Our rating of this service improved. We rated it as good . See the summary above for details.