The UK Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned Alpha Hospitals (NW) in Sheffield that it must take necessary measures to meet essential standards.
The CQC inspectors have found that the provider is failing to comply with seven of the government’s standards of quality and safety.
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The psychiatric hospital was visited by the inspectors in November 2011 as part of their routine schedule of planned reviews.
Inspectors concluded that safe and effective care was lacking, and patients’ needs were not always met. The provider followed some rules that appeared to be unnecessarily restrictive.
According to the Commission, patients were not always safeguarded from abuse or the risk of abuse and staff lacked the right knowledge and understanding of safeguarding referral procedures.
"Patient’s health and welfare needs are not always met and they do not always have their comments and complaints listened to or addressed effectively. The hospital does not have enough arrangements in place for patients to practise their faith and patients’ personal records are not always fit for purpose," the CQC said. "As effective assessment and monitoring of care does not take place, patients do not always benefit from safe, quality care."
CQC gave Alpha Hospitals 14 days to submit plans showing how it intends to achieve compliance.
CQC Yorkshire and Humberside regional director Jo Dent said that they have asked the hospital to provide a report that says what action they are going to take.
"Patients’ complaints were investigated by the provider, but they were not referred to the local authority as they should have been," Dent added. "Patient’s views about the treatment they received at Alpha were mixed. Some patients felt that the staff did a good job, others found there were too many rules in place."
