St Andrew's Healthcare - Birmingham

Updated 10 April 2024

St Andrew’s Healthcare is a registered charity. St Andrews Healthcare Birmingham is an independent hospital which provides medium and low secure support for people with mental health needs. The hospital is registered to accommodate up to 126 people and is made up of eight wards: Edgbaston ward is a 15 bed medium secure ward for men with mental health needs;

Hawksley is a 15 bed medium secure ward for men with mental health needs;

Hazelwell is a 16 bed low secure ward for men with mental health needs;

Hurst is a 16 bed low secure ward for men with mental health needs;

Lifford is a 16 bed low secure ward for older men with mental health needs;

Northfield is a 16 bed low secure ward for men with mental health needs;

Moor Green is a 16 bed low secure ward for women with mental health needs;

Speedwell is a 16 bed low secure ward for men.

The CQC registered St Andrew's Healthcare Birmingham to carry out the following regulated services/ activities: Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The hospital has been inspected four times since registration in 2011. The last inspection was carried out on 26, 27, 28 June 2018 when the hospital was rated as Good overall, Safe as requires improvement, Effective, Caring and Well led as Good and Responsive as outstanding.

What people who use the service say:

Patients described staff as polite, good, kind and do their best to help.

Patients said they sometimes don’t have the food that meets their cultural needs, another patient said they did.

Patients said if they were unwell, they always saw a doctor quickly.

Patients described the wards as noisy at times, however they felt safe and said when there were incidents staff intervened quickly.

Patients said they knew how to make a complaint, but two patients said when they had complained they did not get a response.

Patients said they had access to advocacy services. They said they could access their own mobile phones to use in their bedrooms so they could keep in touch with family and friends.

Patients said that sometimes their escorted authorised leave was cancelled or rescheduled due to staffing.

Patients said they could attend their ward rounds although some patients said that staff didn't help them to prepare for these. They said their family were invited to attend if they chose them to be.

2 patients said they could not access the multi faith rooms in the hospital or their places of worship in the community, 1 patient said that chaplains don’t visit the ward. However, the provider did provide evidence that the Chaplains visited patients on all wards and that the multi faith room is available upon request.

Some patients said that maintenance issues can take time to resolve, however 1 patient said when their sink was blocked it was fixed quickly, another patient said maintenance issues were done when they asked.

Patients said there were no planned activities at the weekends. They said the gym was small and gym sessions were limited. However, they were encouraged to use the community gym when they had authorised leave. They said they had cooking groups when they shopped for and cooked food.

Patients said the hospital was clean and their rooms were cleaned every day.

Updated 10 April 2024

We rated St Andrew’s Healthcare Birmingham as requires improvement because:

• The service did not always have systems and processes to safely administer, record and store medicines.

• Managers did not ensure that sufficient staff received updated training in basic life support.

• The service had enough staff, but they were not always deployed effectively to support patients on each ward and staff reported feeling burnt out.

• Staff did not always discharge their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 as patients' decisions made about resuscitation were not regularly reviewed and updated where needed. Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions were not regularly reviewed or updated.

• The service had some blanket restrictions in place on some wards regarding accessing the courtyard and use of vapes. The provider gave an explanation that these restrictions were necessary and proportionate for managing risk. They were frequently under review through governance processes. However, there were not individual patient care plans for these.

• Care plans were generic and did not show the patient was involved. They did not all include discharge plans.

• Patients were not regularly engaged in therapeutic activities.

• The governance processes were not fully embedded to ensure that ward procedures ran smoothly.

However:

• The ward environments were safe, clean and well maintained.

• Staff followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.

• Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.

• Managers ensured staff received supervision and appraisal.

• The ward staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team.

• The ward teams had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients.

• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood their individual needs.

• Staff planned patient discharge and liaised with services that would provide aftercare, however not all patients had a discharge plan in their records.

Updated 10 April 2024

We rated St Andrew’s Healthcare Birmingham as requires improvement because:

• The service did not always have systems and processes to safely administer, record and store medicines.

• Managers did not ensure that sufficient staff received updated training in basic life support.

• The service had enough staff, but they were not always deployed effectively to support patients on each ward and staff reported feeling burnt out.

• Staff did not always discharge their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 as patients' decisions made about resuscitation were not regularly reviewed and updated where needed. Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions were not regularly reviewed or updated.

• The service had some blanket restrictions in place on some wards regarding accessing the courtyard and use of vapes. The provider gave an explanation that these restrictions were necessary and proportionate for managing risk. They were frequently under review through governance processes. However, there were not individual patient care plans for these.

• Care plans were generic and did not show the patient was involved. They did not all include discharge plans.

• Patients were not regularly engaged in therapeutic activities.

• The governance processes were not fully embedded to ensure that ward procedures ran smoothly.

However:

• The ward environments were safe, clean and well maintained.

• Staff followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.

• Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.

• Managers ensured staff received supervision and appraisal.

• The ward teams had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients.

• The ward staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team.

• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood their individual needs.

• Staff planned patient discharge and liaised with services that would provide aftercare, however not all patients had a discharge plan in their records.