Cypress Hospital

Updated 9 January 2019

Cypress Hospital has recently moved to a new premise which had previously not been inspected by the CQC. The service is a single site which provides “step-down” and short-term crisis admissions for up to 12 men and women over the age of 18 years with mental health needs.

Step-down rehabilitation is for people who are currently in an acute hospital setting who no longer need the support of an acute service. However, they may still require hospital support for short periods of time. The service has a target length of admission of 28 days. Crisis placements are for patients who need a short-term level of hospital support but do not need the facilities of an acute service.

All rooms were single occupancy with ensuite facilities located in single sex corridors

The service has a target length of stay of 28 days

Crisis placements are for patients who need a short-term level of hospital support but do not need the facilities of an acute service.

The service is managed by Community Care Trust (South West) Limited, trading as Step One Charity, which is a registered charity that provides a range of services for people with mental health problems in Torbay and South Devon.

Cypress hospital is registered to carry out:

Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care.

Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the 1983 Mental Health Act.

There was no registered manager in place at the time of the inspection. The nominated individual and chief executive officer was supporting an interim manager who had applied to CQC to become the registered manager.

Updated 9 January 2019

We rated Cypress Hospital as good because :

• Staff treated patients with compassion, kindness and supported their individual needs. Staff involved patients and those close to them in decisions about their care, treatment and changes to the service. The staff group were very engaged with and positive about working with the patients. The person centred nature of the service ran through the care plans, face to face interactions and the language used in handovers and meetings
• Staff completed thorough assessments of patients which were holistic and used these to inform individualised care plans for patients. Staff ensured that all assessments, including risk assessments and care plans were updated regularly

• Staff kept detailed records of patients’ care and treatment. Records were clear, up to date, stored securely and easily available to all staff providing care

• The service provided treatment and care for patients that followed a recovery focused model. Staff supported patients with their physical health and encouraged them to live healthier lives

• Staff had appropriate training that enabled them to meet the needs of patients and keep them safe

• Cypress was a single site service which accepted male and female patients. It was able meet the guidance on same sex accommodation by accommodating men and women in separate corridors.

• The team included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of the patients in the service

• Staff understood their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983, the Mental Health Act Code of Practice and the Mental Capacity Act

• The service took account of patients’ individual needs. Staff helped patients with communication, advocacy and cultural support. Patients had their own bedrooms where they could keep personal belongings safely.

• The service treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and learned lessons from the results. The service shared these lessons with all staff.

• The culture at the hospital was positive, most staff felt supported and respected by managers.

However:

• Although the service had recently moved to a purpose built environment that was designed to minimise ligature risk, there were risks posed by several ligature points that were not being managed fully. When made aware of these the senior management team immediately put in place a plan to address the risks.

• Staff were not able to easily see all parts of the service, when we discussed this with managers they made arrangements for convex mirrors to be put in place to ensure staff could see all areas.