Stockport psychiatric hospital ordered to improve

Hospital bosses have promised to work hard to make improvements

A psychiatric unit has been ordered to improve after inspectors ruled it was failing to maintain "a caring environment", respect patient dignity and help them recover.

Cheadle Royal Hospital in Stockport was previously rated "good" by the Care Quality Commission in 2017.

It has now been downgraded to "requires improvement" after officials found a "number of concerns".

Operators The Priory Group said they were "working hard" to make amends.

The Heald Green site has wards for adults and children, as well as eating disorder services.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the watchdog noted how staff "treated patients with compassion and kindness" and "developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans."

However, safety was "inadequate" in the acute adult wards and psychiatric intensive care units, as well as on the child and adolescent mental health wards, the newly published report noted.

It added: "Not all wards were safe, clean, well equipped, well furnished, well maintained and fit for purpose."

Inspectors found problems relating to the maintenance of adult ward areas, furniture and essential equipment.

'Mould and damp'

The inspection report read: "Ward areas were mostly clean, but were not well maintained, and we found furniture that did not meet infection control standards.

"We found paint and plaster peeling off doors and walls in a range of corridors and rooms that patients used. We found evidence of mould and damp in patients' bathrooms and in some communal spaces."

Other concerns included chairs blocking a corridor that led to a fire exit, although these were removed "immediately" after being brought to the hospital's attention.

Wards for children and adolescents were found to be generally clean, well furnished and fit for purpose but not well maintained.

On all three children's and adolescent wards, the yearly checks on essential equipment, including the defibrillator, had not been completed.

The watchdog acknowledged the had hospital addressed the most serious concerns immediately but it also issued warning notices for two breaches of regulations.

A spokesman for the hospital said: "We are working hard to make the improvements identified.

"Our maintenance programme was disrupted by the pandemic, when additional infection prevention measures were in place making it more difficult for contractors to access the site.

"Now that the restrictions have been lifted, we have made significant progress on our refurbishment plan."

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