The Care Quality Commission has told Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust that it must make improvements to the acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units at Southampton’s Antelope House.
CQC inspectors conducted an unannounced, focused inspection at the unit in Brintons Terrace in February 2019 in response to concerns by patients, staff and the local leadership team regarding the cleanliness, safety and quality of care.
Before the inspection, the trust had made some key changes in response to the concerns. This included new leadership and additional checks on safety and extra support for staff. These key changes had been brought in on 11 February 2019 so had only been in place nine days before the inspection.
The full inspection report can be found at: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/RW1GE
Karen Bennett-Wilson, CQC’s Head of Hospital Inspection in the south west (and lead for mental health), said:
“Our inspectors found a number of concerns and have told Southern Health what they need to do to ensure improvements take place to protect the safety of people using services at Antelope House.
“While Southern Health have made improvements, including a new management team, it must continue to advance and ensure that the changes are sustainable. In the meantime, we will continue to monitor the service closely to ensure improvements are made. If improvements are not forthcoming we will not hesitate to take further steps to protect the people who are using this service.”
During the inspection, Inspectors found staff had not always ensured that risks concerning patient’s physical health were fully addressed. An assessment of one patient’s physical health had not been sufficiently managed. Food, fluid and repositioning charts had been completed thoroughly, but the assessment to assess the risk to a patient’s skin integrity did not reflect the correct risk rating. Body maps were completed erratically.
Patients had not all been weighed frequently because the ward did not have the correct equipment. This meant the patients could be at risk of pressure damage.
Staff on the wards in Antelope House were passionate about their jobs, but staffing levels sometimes fell below the trust safer staffing levels. There were a number of vacant posts on wards and a high level of staff sickness. The wards were heavily reliant on bank and agency staff and some shifts were left short by one or two members of staff.
Despite providing supportive care, staff morale on the Hamtun ward was low. There were staff off sick and the remaining team felt under pressure. Staff said that prior to the changes they had felt undermined by senior management regarding admissions to the wards and felt that communication had been poor. Staff morale on Saxon ward was good. Staff felt supported by management and worked well as a team. However, staff did not feel that they were involved in decisions and that they were not listened to by senior managers.
However, inspectors did find staff assessed and managed risks relating to mental health well, daily multidisciplinary safety huddles had been put in place on the wards to look at any safety concerns and seek the views of staff and patients