Lakeview Hospital: Trust 'failed to ensure safe care' says report

Lakeview is a specialist unit for vulnerable adults with learning difficulties

A health trust failed to "ensure the delivery of safe and effective care" at a hospital for adults with a learning disability, the regulator has found.

It follows an unannounced inspection by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) to Lakeview Hospital in Londonderry in February.

Lakeview is a ten-bed assessment and treatment unit run by the Western Health and Social Care Trust.

The trust said it took very seriously the areas that required improvement.

The RQIA said following the inspection, it had identified areas of significant concern including adult safeguarding and incident management.

Safeguarding ensures the safety and well-being of all patients and provides additional measures for those least able to protect themselves from harm or abuse.

'Limited engagement'

The RQIA said one ward did "not provide the type of therapeutic environment required to meet the needs of the complex and vulnerable group of patients accommodated within it".

"There was limited therapeutic engagement across both wards with no activity schedules or individual activity plans evident," the RQIA said, adding that Lakeview lacked a "proactive approach to care".

The Western Trust said it took the RQIA report "very seriously"

Wards were described as "stark", while bedrooms "lacked individualisation and personal effects".

A significant number of staff, the RQIA found, had not attended the trust's mandatory adult safeguarding training.

There were gaps in knowledge and understanding among staff, it added.

It said it was also concerned about a lack of involvement in care from health professionals other than medical and nursing staff.

The RQIA said input from pharmacy and specialist occupational and other specialist therapies was minimal, while it also had concerns over the hospital's cleanliness and the staff's understanding of any specific dietary requirement of patients.

The health watchdog has served the trust with two notices of improvement.

'Significant progress'

The February inspection followed on from a previous RQIA inspection carried out in August and September last year when the health watchdog first identified a number of concerns.

"At this most recent inspection, although significant progress has been made on a number of those issues, concerns about adult safeguarding and incident management at the hospital remained," the RQIA said.

The trust said it was committed to providing the highest quality of service

"Additionally, concerns about the need to improve care and treatment to support recovery and resettlement of patients were heightened," it added.

"Under the Improvement Notices, the Western Trust is required to ensure full compliance with all RQIA's recommendations by 10 September 2022."

Following last month's inspection, the RQIA noted "significant progress" in relation to patient's physical health care needs, fire safety and the management of anti-psychotic medications.

'Families informed'

In response, Karen O'Brien, director of Adult Mental Health and Disability Services at the Western Trust, said the trust had made "considerable progress" but improvement was needed in a number of areas.

She said the RQIA had provided an improvement plan which would be taken forward, addressing the concerns identified.

She said the families of those in the unit continue to be informed about the situation.

"The trust is committed to providing the highest quality services for all the patients and service users in its care," Ms O'Brien said.

"The trust takes very seriously the areas identified as requiring improvement in Lakeview Hospital and has demonstrated its willingness to take whatever actions are necessary to ensure the service is compliant with the relevant standards and practices."