Patients at a mental health hospital in Arnold were not having their risks properly assessed, according to a report. The hospital remains in special measures after a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated its services as 'inadequate'.
The watchdog carried out an inspection of the hospital, which provides acute mental health services for men and women, to follow up on concerns from a previous inspection last year. It said that one patient had used a plastic bag - a restricted item - to try and harm themselves.
The Priory Group-run facility said a "significant amount of work had been done" after the previous inspection, but the latest CQC probe highlighted some issues.
In the most recent report the hospital, situated off Calverton Road, was found to not have been managing the risks to patients' mental and physical health could have led to serious harm. Patients said there were sometimes not enough staff and this made them feel unsafe, the report says.
Staff were also said to not have easy access to clinical information. However, the CQC said staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. Patients were also said to be polite and respectful.
Craig Howarth, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for mental health and community services, said there had been one incident of a patient trying to harm themselves with a plastic bag - a "restricted item on the ward".
"Staff had not followed the patient’s risk assessment and did not search the patient on their return from a visit off the ward," he said.
“It was also concerning that despite rotas showing enough staff were available across the hospital, staff gave examples of when a lack of staffing had impacted on patient care and safety. Also, the multidisciplinary team met each morning to discuss risk with some staff from the wards however, it wasn’t clear how this information was passed to all ward staff.
"Despite the measures in place, the risks to patients were not reduced and there was evidence of incidents of harm to patients."
Read more: Mental health hospital in special measures after 'human waste and blood' found on floors and walls
A spokesperson for the hospital said: “We are disappointed that the hospital remains in special measures, although the fact that five of the seven conditions placed on the hospital after the previous inspection have been removed shows that significant progress has been made. We are working closely with the CQC and others to make the other necessary improvements.
"We have reassessed our staff deployments to ensure the right staff are available whenever they are required. We are continually improving our risk identification and assessment policies, which in the main are working well.
"The ligature point referred to in the report was the result of maintenance work taking place to improve the site and has subsequently been removed.
"A nurse now inspects all maintenance work after completion for potential impact to patent safety to prevent this happening again. The CQC note in their report that we have recruited the psychologists needed to provide a full range of treatments, they started the week of the inspection.
"We are pleased that the regulators recognised the improvements made to achieve a ‘good’ rating in the ‘caring’ category.”
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