CQC lowers Weston-super-Mare rehab centre's rating

Its rating has been lowered from 'good' to 'needs improvements'

A rehabilitation centre's rating has been lowered by officials due to its unsafe management of medicines.

Elysium Healthcare Limited has been told it must make changes to its Weston-super-Mare mental health unit, following a recent inspection.

But officials did note they were pleased with the rest of its services.

An Elysium Healthcare spokeswoman said the wellbeing of its patients was a priority and it welcomed the scrutiny and had since made improvements.

The Copse is a rehabilitation service for men and women struggling with their mental health.

'Untailored risk assessments'

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out a number of unannounced checks on the unit between 10 August and 12 October.

Its rating has since been lowered from 'good' to 'needs improvements'.

The CQC's head of hospital inspection, Karen Bennett-Wilson, said after the first visit, concerns were raised regarding its lack of staff, "particularly at night".

"Risk assessments and risk management plans were often generic and not tailored to patient's specific needs," she said.

"The service did not have robust systems in place to ensure that medicines were safely administered, recorded and stored, and we found that patients who had been prescribed high doses of medication used to manage a range of psychotic conditions, such as paranoia and schizophrenia, did not have a care plan in place.

"We also found that the service did not always take action following incidents to ensure that lessons were learned, and improvements were made."

'Continue to monitor'

An Elysium Healthcare Limited spokeswoman said: "After the initial inspection of the hospital in August immediate improvements were made to risk management procedures, care plans and medication records, all of which were evidenced by the CQC on their subsequent visit."

The care company has also appointed a new deputy ward manager, seven healthcare assistants and two staff nurses.

"We have now told the provider to send us an action plan explaining how they will address our concerns and we will continue to monitor the service closely to ensure that improvements are made and fully embedded," Ms Bennett-Wilson added.