New Bridges

Updated 27 November 2015

Newbridges is an 18 bed male only acute inpatient ward for adults of working age. The provider had altered the living space and increased the number of bed spaces from 12 to 18 on this ward in April 2015. On the day of our visit there were 17 patients allocated to the ward. Ten of these patients were detained under the Mental Health Act and seven patients were admitted informally. Three patients were on leave.

The Care Quality Commission inspected Newbridges in May 2014 as part of a trust wide inspection. At the time of this inspection, all acute wards within the trust were compliant with the regulations.

The ward received a visit from a Mental Health Act Reviewer in December 2014 and issues relating to the Mental Health Act (MHA) were identified. At the time of our inspection some of these issues were still being addressed.

Updated 27 November 2015

• There had been six locum psychiatrists in the last six months, which created a level of uncertainty and instability on the ward as staff accommodated different medical styles.
• Some staff lacked assurance in verbal de-escalation techniques.
• Records relating to the seclusion of patients were not timely
• There had been two serious incidents in the last six months.
• The ward filled the beds of those patients taking ward leave when there were no other beds available. Potentially, this meant that if patients did not want to extend their leave the trust would have to transfer them to another ward for non clinical reasons.
• Staff morale was low.

However:

• The unit previously had minimal ligature risks. The bedrooms in the new build had blind spots, where staff could not observe patients. The trust managed these risks by installing mirrors opposite the bedroom doors. This meant staff could observe if patients were safe.
• Staffing levels were reviewed and increased to accommodate the increase in beds.
• The seclusion policy was under review to ensure it adhered to the changes in the MHA Code of Practice.
• The new conversion was clean and bright and increased the facilities available to patients.
• Activities were meaningful and well led. Patients had access to activities at the weekend.
• The provider had made changes to the ward in response to staff concerns that were slowly being recognised. The local managers were actively working towards improved staff morale.