Rhodes Wood Hospital

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Leaders ensured there was a shared vision, strategy and culture. Staff members were able to tell us about values and how this applied to them in their roles. Leaders were visible in the service. Staff told us they felt supported and they were able to approach leaders with concerns. There was a speaking up culture. Staff were able to tell us about freedom to speak up and examples of when they might use this. Leaders worked towards an inclusive and fair culture. There was a comprehensive equality, diversity and inclusion policy in place, which detailed types of discrimination. There was clear and effective governance. Multi-disciplinary meetings had a clear framework, where essential information was shared. Leaders understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership. Leaders engaged with other services to share information on risks or themes. There was a focus on continuous learning and innovation. Staff told us about quality improvement projects to improve the service. This included a quality improvement project on communication.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Leaders ensured that the vision and values of the service were communicated to staff. Most staff were able to tell us the values of the service and how this applied to them in their roles.Some staff members told us about Kindness, Integrity, Teamwork and Excellence (KITE) awards to recognise those who had demonstrated the service values in their work.

Leaders demonstrated a positive listening culture. Staff told us that leaders were visible within the service and created a listening culture by having an open-door policy, where they were available to staff.

Leaders told us that they were aware of areas for improvement and told us they had begun a quality improvement project to focus on improving communication. Leaders told us that they were aiming to introduce a live document for multidisciplinary meetings to improve communication. Staff told us they felt able to approach leaders with any ideas or suggestions for serviceimprovement.

Staff told us they felt respected, supported and valued. Staff spoke very highly of managers and senior leaders at the service.

Leaders had a good understanding of the service they managed and could explain how the teams were working to provide quality care. Leaders told us that they were members of Quality Network for Inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and they had regular care reviews.

Leaders had a clear knowledge of priorities, risk and challenges for their service. For example, leaders told us that there were more complex cases coming to the service, such as young people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Leaders told us they were responding to the changing needs of young people by getting support from community ASD teams and had embedded reflective practice into team meetings to support staff. One staff member told us that an occupational therapist had bought an inflatable for young people to lie in, which made them feel like they were being hugged.

All staff members we spoke with told us that leaders were approachable and had the skills and knowledge to perform their roles. Staff told us that leaders were visible within the service and they felt supported by senior managers.

There was a culture of openness, honesty and transparency. Staff told us they felt able to raise concerns with managers. Staff were able to tell us examples of when they might use freedom to speak up, such as staff bullying. All staff members we spoke with were aware of freedom to speak up and said they would not hesitate to do this. Staff also told us there were boxes within the hospital to leave anonymous concerns. Staff told us that leaders have an open-door policy, which made them accessible.

Managers and staff had access to feedback from young people, carers and staff and used it to make improvements. Parents and carers of children and young people had the opportunity to raise concerns. Some parents and carers we spoke with told us there had been times where they had raised concerns with staff. One parent told us they raised concerns about self harm after nasogastric feeding. Staff listened to concerns and observations were increased. All parents and carers we spoke with told us that their concerns had been managed appropriately by the service.

The service had a comprehensive equality, diversity and inclusion policy in place that was last reviewed in 2024. Staff told us that they were able to make flexible working requests. One staff member told us they were an international staff member and felt very supported. The staffing group at the hospital was from a diverse range of cultures.

There was a clear framework of what must be discussed at multi-disciplinary meetings to ensure that essential information was shared and discussed. We attended a multi-disciplinary meeting, which included staff members from psychology, dietetics, occupational therapy, nursing staff and family therapy. We found that staff members were knowledgeable about young people and their risks. Discharge plans were discussed, which included linking in with community teams to ensure a smooth transition.

We attended an operational governance meeting, where a robust update on incidents over the last 24 hours was given to the team.

Staff had implemented recommendations from incidents. Following an incident where a staff member fell asleep on observation, an action plan had been developed and implemented. This included actions such as random CCTV reviews and out of hours management checks to ensure that observations were being completed as prescribed. Leaders told us that staff were not able to do more than 4 shifts in a row to ensure they had adequate rest.

The service had plans for emergencies. There was a comprehensive business continuity plan in place, which had clear guidelines on how to respond in an emergency, such as a fire or severe weather.

Staff told us that they work alongside community teams from the point of admission, through to discharge. Staff also told us that they have multi-disciplinary meetings, where family members were also invited to join. Young people were supported to integrate back into the community when ready to be discharged.

Leaders engaged with external stakeholders. Leaders told us that as part of a clinical network group, information about themes and risks was shared with other services. Leaders also told us they link in with the local authority and have meetings twice per year, as well as other services including the police and general hospitals.

Staff used quality improvement methods. Leaders told us that there was an ongoing quality improvement project with a focus on improving communication, which was still in the early stages.

Innovations were taking place in the service. Staff and Leaders supported young people to develop the idea of a crochet business. This project allowed young people to use their creativity, skills and help young people to develop confidence. Young people gave the hospital director and senior management team a presentation and exhibited some of their work with a plan to start selling their products.

Parent and carer electronic feedback forms were created in response to meal task and leave feedback forms being misplaced. Parents and carers fed back that this was easier to use and a preferred way to provide feedback.

Wards participated in accreditation schemes relevant to the service. Leaders told us they were members of Quality Network for Inpatient CAMHS (QNIC). This is a quality improvement network focused on improving inpatient care for children and young people. QNIC aims to ensure that young people receive the best standards of care.