St Mary's in Warrington told to improve amid safety concerns

CCTV showed staff preventing someone from leaving their bedroom for a long period

A hospital which provides care for men with brain injuries and autism has been told to make "significant improvements" by the health watchdog.

An inspection took place at St Mary's Hospital in Warrington in July.

Inspectors found patients were put at risk by staff using "unsafe techniques" and potential safeguarding incidents were not reported appropriately.

Elysium Healthcare, which runs the hospital, said an improvement action plan was already in place.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) downgraded the independent hospital's safe rating to inadequate and rated St Mary's as "requires improvement" overall.

The hospital has been issued with a warning notice to ensure people's safety and ordered to make "significant improvements" by 30 November.

The inspection of its Cavendish and Leo wards took place amid concerns about patient safety, the CQC said.

'Disappointing deterioration'

It found the wards did not always have enough nurses or support staff and risk assessments were not always up to date - while some staff felt unsupported.

The CQC's Karen Knapton said it was "disappointing to see some areas of safety had deteriorated".

She said: "Inspectors saw several occasions where staff used unsafe techniques to handle people which put themselves and patients at risk of harm.

"CCTV footage showed staff preventing someone from leaving their bedroom for a sustained period even though this person wasn't deemed to require such restrictions."

Ms Knapton said staff did not always know which incidents to report and "some potential safeguarding incidents" were recorded on CCTV that "had not been reported appropriately".

However, she said it was "reassuring" that managers had brought in a service development and wellbeing lead to work with staff and there was "mainly positive feedback" from patients.

Inspectors said a doctor was available to go to the ward quickly in an emergency, patients had support plans and staff were up to date with mandatory training.

Elyisium Healthcare said it accepted the findings and welcomed the scrutiny, adding that "the safety and wellbeing of our patients is always our priority".

A significant quality improvement plan, including a review of risk assessments and staff support systems, had already been implemented and staff continued to be recruited, it added.

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