CONCERNS over privacy and dignity of child patients at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital have been raised by inspectors.
The Care Quality Commission has this month (May) published their latest report into the Gloucester hospital which currently requires improvement.
Inspectors carried out an unannounced focus inspection of the children’s centre which consists of 38 beds including general medical and surgical beds, four high dependency unit beds, and a four bedded oncology unit in September last year.
The CQC did this in response to information of concerns provided to them by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust about the safety and quality of the services for children and young persons.
The provider had contacted the CQC with concerns that young people were ready for discharge but were inappropriately placed at the hospital with no clear discharge pathway.
“We were informed that due to their behaviours, physical restraint was being used, together with the administration of emergency sedation and involuntary detention,” the report reads.
Inspectors found that there was no privacy in the young persons’ rooms, and were told that de-escalation and restraint took place in the rooms.
People moving along the corridor could see into the young person’s room.
They also said the hospital’s care plans and records did not reflect national guidance for restraint, observation, and emergency sedation.
And level three training records showed they were below 50 per cent and not all staff had received training on the mental health needs of children and young persons.
There were concerns over the competencies of registered nurses supplied by the agency to provide specialist mental health care to the young persons.
And the trust medicines policy and procedures regarding the administration of emergency sedation and the observations of the patient post administration were not being followed.
According to the report, staff were not following the national guidance on the use of emergency sedation in a child or young person.
And managers did not have a comprehensive oversight of the administration of emergency sedation.
However, the CQC noted during their inspection in September 2023 that staff were responsive when caring for young people.
And that they took time to interact with young people in a respectful and considerate manner outside of clinical interventions.
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the team has strengthened processes around appropriate hospital admissions, administration of emergency sedation, reviewed mandatory training and strengthened recruitment and use of registered mental health nurses.
“The report is challenging and we recognise the patients at the heart of the Children Centre inspection should not have been in our hospitals, which is why the Trust took the decision to proactively raise the safety concern and seek support from the CQC.”
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