A hospital remains a ‘service of concern’ and requires urgent attention following an inspection by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.

Ebbw Vale’s Hillview Hospital, which specialises in young people’s mental health, was last visited by HIW in November 2021. It was then that the hospital was designated as a service of concern due to the number and severity of the issues identified.

Hillview has 21 beds that provides mental health services to women aged between 13-18. At the time of the inspection Hillview was managed by Regis Healthcare but is now run by Elysium Healthcare. 

A spokesperson for Elysium Healthcare said they have ‘embarked on a transition programme with Health Inspectorate Wales to make improvements.’

What HIW recommended should be improved:

  • We were told that therapeutic activities often get cancelled at short notice. The service must ensure activities go ahead as scheduled.
  • Communication by the hospital to family members and carers in relation to the care and wellbeing of the young people could be improved.
  • A review of the visiting arrangements in operation at the hospital should take place to ensure it appropriately meets the needs of the young people and family members and carers.

HIW found that insufficient progress had been made to improve incident reporting systems and management restraint after their recent visit.

South Wales Argus: Outside Ebbw Vale's Hillview Hospital Outside Ebbw Vale's Hillview Hospital (Image: Street View)

Outside Ebbw Vale's Hillview Hospital. Picture: Street View 

Chief Executive of HIW, Alun Jones, said: “Whilst there have been improvements in the service since we last inspected, it is concerning that there has not been enough progress on several key areas.

“This requires urgent attention as the safety of the young people being treated in this hospital is paramount.

“We will continue to engage with the service to ensure progress against our findings.”

The inspectorate made an unannounced independent inspection of the hospital over three consecutive days in August 2021.

Infection prevention and control procedures remained an issue, during the November inspection HIW asked for areas to be cleaned following incidents and better procedures to keep patient and visitor areas clean and clutter free.

What HIW recommended HIW to improve on Safe and Effective care:

  • Have meaningful interactions with the young people.
  • All weekly checks undertaken on the resuscitation and emergency equipment must be documented.
  •  Ensuring all staff are aware of, and follow, the procedures for escalation in line with National Early Warning Scores guidance to help protect the health and safety of the young people.
  • All care and treatment plans identified as necessary for the young people upon their admission must be subsequently created and acted upon.
  • Serious issues remained in the quality of incident reports due to them lacking appropriate and sufficient detail.

What the service did well:

  • The clinic rooms were organised, clean, and tidy and procedures were now in place for the safe management of medicines.
  • The electronic system in place to maintain patient records was comprehensive, well organised and easy to navigate.

An improvement was found in medicine management, upkeep of clinical environments and the quality of care and treatment plans.

A spokesperson for Elysium Healthcare said: “The safety and wellbeing of our patients is our highest priority, and we fully accept the findings of Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.

“It was pleasing to see that the significant improvements we have already made at the hospital were recognised by the Inspectorate, and we thank our hard-working teams for their dedication and commitment.

“We acquired the hospital shortly after the inspection and we immediately embarked on a transition programme working with Health Inspectorate Wales to make improvements including the upgrade to reporting systems and additional training regarding infection prevention and control procedures.

“We can confirm that we have begun the process of transitioning the current group of young people out of Hillview Hospital so that they can attend services within their own regions where possible. We aim to complete this process by March 2023.

“Hillview remains a much-needed mental health hospital and we will move to provide a new service for adults who live in Wales. The new provision will be agreed in consultation with NHS Wales and its key stakeholders.”

HIW is to closely monitor the plan’s progress.