A Northumberland doctor has spoken about how he has helped turn around a struggling private hospital by working with patients - and also shared his concerns about the pressures mental health services are under.
Dr Gbolagade Akintomide, is a consultant psychiatrist at Cygnet Hexham, a private hospital catering for women with mental health problems. Speaking to ChronicleLive, he said involving patients in their own care and helping to reduce the restrictions on their daily lives was key.
Following an inspection in 2019, when the service provided wards for adults with a learning disability or autism and named Cygnet Chesterholme, enforcement action was taken. The service was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission and placed into special measures before closing in September 2019 and reopening in October 2020. Earlier this year, it received a much-improved "Good" rating.
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Dr Akintomide has been named the firm's medical leader of the year, and a senior member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has paid tribute to his work in helping to improve the service. Dr Akintomide - who lives in Hazlerigg - told ChronicleLive: "The way I work with people is to lead by example and ensure that patient care is always the utmost. The aim is to give them that excellent care, yes, but also to give them excellent care that they are involved in. We have brought in changes which will really improve care for patients."
The doctor - who is also the firm's medical director in the North of England - said that one way in which improvements had been made was in reducing the restrictions on patients where appropriate. He said: "As a mental health service, our patients can often be a risk to themselves and to others. We have to react and balance that with their needs for a sense of independence and we have been working to reduce the observation level.
"If you work with patients, and give them some criteria - that if they do this without incident we will be able to take them off the one-to-one observation for example - patients can really want to work with us. It's about working with our patients and the team and ensuring that everything we do is with them in mind."
He said this collaborative approach had seen improvements in safety and the independence and welfare of patients - and the "holistic" approach was praised when Care Quality Commission inspectors visited earlier this year. Back then inspectors said: "Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients. They actively involved patients and families and carers in care decisions."
Dr Akintomide added that the rising pressure on mental health services had several causes - including a rising incidence of ill health in young people and difficulty persuading doctors to work in the sector. He added: "There is more and more pressure on services and one reason is that I think young people are facing more and more social pressures early in life, compared to 50 or 60 years ago. People can leave home very young and the family safety net is not there as much."
As for the workforce pressures - common to much of the NHS and to social care - he added: "Working as a doctor in mental health and psychiatry can be a very rewarding thing - it can be very fulfilling, but it can be a challenging place to work." He said potential psychiatrists could be out off the job by the "emotional impact working in mental health services can have on them", but wanted to persuade junior doctors to take on the challenge.
Presenting Dr Akintomide's award, Dr Helen Crimlisk, the Royal College Psychological Lead for Medical Leadership, said: “Dr Akintomide has shown an incredible level of hard work, dedication and leadership. He has invested significant time into teaching all disciplines around policies and care plans and he works closely with teams to help them improve during difficult times. He is a true leader in challenging circumstances, as well as when things are going well."
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