Inspectors revisit troubled Hill Crest mental health unit

The Hill Crest unit is based on the Alexandra Hospital site in Redditch, Worcestershire

Inspectors have returned to a troubled mental health unit at the centre of a BBC investigation into poor care.

Hill Crest in Redditch, Worcestershire, was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after it found a "significant deterioration" in safety on the ward during a visit last year.

Claims include staff falling asleep on duty, attacks on patients and staff, and a culture of bullying.

The NHS trust has previously apologised.

Hill Crest is managed by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust which said it was focusing on improving care.

It submitted its action plan for improvements to the CQC on 5 September.

The watchdog said it had wanted to allow the NHS trust time to put that action plan in place before inspectors returned on Tuesday.

Asleep on duty

The mixed-gender 18-bed Hill Crest ward supports people aged between 18 and 65 with acute mental health difficulties and those detained under the Mental Health Act.

A former patient told the BBC she could remember four occasions when staff at the unit were sleeping while they should have been monitoring her.

She also said her father had been so concerned about her safety he felt compelled to camp outside the building and refused to leave.

• Troubled mental health ward unsafe, says regulator

• Troubled mental health unit cuts bed numbers

• Claims of sleeping staff and bullying on ward

When the CQC conducted an unannounced visit over the summer, inspectors found a number of causes for concern including insufficient staffing, sexual safety incidents and poor building maintenance including exposed electrical wires.

The watchdog also cited an earlier incident where a patient had attempted to throw boiling water and sugar at a member of staff.

It said when it visited, "two boilers were still in use indicating that lessons had not been learned following the incident and no actions had been taken to mitigate any future risk".

A report following Tuesday's visit will be published later.