Potters Bar Clinic

Updated 21 September 2023

Potters Bar Clinic is an independent hospital that provides services to adults who have needs related to their mental health and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Tier 4 low secure services for young people aged 13 to 18 years with a wide range of disorders and complex needs. Young people may be detained under the Mental Health Act or may be voluntarily staying at the hospital.

Potters Bar Clinic is provided by Elysium Healthcare No 2. Limited. There are 2 CAMHS wards:

• Jasper ward is a mixed gender CAMHS ward with 11 beds on the ground floor.

• Opal ward is a mixed gender CAMHS ward with 7 beds on the ground floor.

Potters Bar Clinic is registered to carry out the following legally regulated activities:

• Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager in place who was the hospital director.

This location was most recently inspected in December 2019. At this inspection we did not identify any breaches of the Health and Social Care Act (2014) for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

We carried out this unannounced inspection because we received information giving us concerns about the safety and quality of the services. We visited the service during the day and on another occasion, during the night time shift.

What people who use the service say

We spoke with 5 young people that were using the service and 3 carers:

Young people told us:

• Staff were mostly caring, helpful, and supportive, especially the day-time staff.
• They felt listened to by staff.
• They felt actively involved in their care.
• However, 3 young people felt that agency night staff quickly resorted to applying restrictive practices such as restraint, rather than using other interventions first.
• One young person told us that night-time staff sometimes spoke in their own language.

Carers told us:

• They were invited to ward rounds and mostly felt involved in care.
• One carer told us staff communication could be improved.
• Two carers told us the service should offer more autism training for staff.

Updated 21 September 2023

Our rating of this location stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

• The service provided safe care. The ward environments were safe and clean. The wards had enough nurses and doctors. Staff assessed and managed risk well. The use of restrictive practices was reducing, medicines were managed safely, and staff followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. They provided a range of treatments suitable to the needs of young people and in line with national guidance about best practice. Staff engaged in audits to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• The ward teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients on the wards. Managers ensured that these staff received training and supervision. Staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team.
• Staff treated young people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood their individual needs. They actively involved young people in their care.
• Staff planned and managed discharge well.
• The service was well led, and the governance processes ensured that ward procedures ran smoothly.

However:

• There were high vacancy rates for qualified nursing staff.
• Staff did not always appropriately record and store consent to treatment forms.

Updated 21 September 2023

Updated 3 March 2020