A private mental health unit where patients were given out of date medication and a distressed woman was told by staff to “stop crying” has been ordered to improve.
Cygnet Kenney House, on Wester Hill Road, Oldham, Greater Manchester, was given the warning by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC), for failing to meet regulations related to safe care.
Inspectors found problems with staffing levels, responsiveness to incidents and the management of medicines.
A Cygnet Kenney House spokeswoman said after the visit in September, it had put a “comprehensive” improvement plan in place.
During their visit the CQC inspectors found some prescribed medications were unavailable for more than a week and one patient was given out-of-date drugs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
“During the assessment we found the provider didn’t have enough suitably qualified, competent, skilled, and experienced staff deployed to keep service users safe,” the report read.
Patients on the Harben ward, a high dependency rehabilitation ward for women with seven patients, told inspectors they “did not feel safe” and that staff “seemed too busy to talk”.
Staff responses to patients “were not always helpful”, they said, with one employee recorded as telling a distressed patient “stop crying, you are making me sad”.
In the Baldock ward, which provides acute treatment to up to 16 women, and the 12-bed Billington ward, staff were not keeping track of food and fluid intake properly, and some were put on observation shifts for longer than recommended.
Two of the seven patients the inspectors spoke to said staff did not respond quickly when they were distressed or needed help, and another said she waited more than three hours to be taken on her leave.
Three patients said staff treated them well and behaved appropriately towards them.
“The safety of our patients is our highest priority, and we take the delivery of safe care extremely seriously,” said Jennifer Healey, Cygnet Kenney House hospital manager.
“Our comprehensive improvement plan had a particular focus on managing ligature risks, strengthening medicines management, and enhancing staff training.”