A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report has downgraded the Cygnet Hospital at Godden Green near Sevenoaks to “requires improvement”. The CQC also imposed two requirement notices on the hospital in relation to safe medicines management and making sure they have a permanent registered manager. The hospital had previously ben rated “good”. The mental health hospital, which treats NHS-funded patients, is under the CQC’s watchful eye as safety concerns include:
- nursing staff not completing medication competency assessments;
- nothing to ensure that staff tested their personal alarms and there were no records of these being signed out;
- staff were unclear what items young people should remove to avoid repeated self-harm;
- staff lacked clarity on which young people were allowed into rooms whilst medication was being administered.
These are amongst a worryingly long list reported by HSJ. Lack of previously mentioned safety procedures led to an incident where a patient got into a clinic room and took medication and sharp items. When the staff member attempted to use their personal alarm, no sound came out.
Full story in HSJ, 17 July 2019
