IMPROVEMENTS are needed at a specialist hospital in Abertillery, an inspection has found.

Aberbeeg Hospital, a specialist mental health hospital owned by Elysium Healthcare, was visited by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) over three consecutive days in an unannounced inspection in July 2023.

HIW have now released a report on their findings, outlining a serious of areas for improvement.

A spokesperson from Elysium Healthcare for Aberbeeg Hospital said a "robust action plan" has been put in place following the findings.

A review of recent safeguarding reports "consistently found insufficient details had been recorded regarding sustained injuries and body mapping".

Inspectors found records of two incidents in which a patient had been assaulted by another patient and "sustained superficial injuries" - but no further information about the nature of the injuries. 

Some Positive Behaviour Support plans - or PSBs were also found to be "of poor quality". 

The report said: "The plans were not detailed, personalised to patients nor recovery focused. They did not contain sufficient information regarding individual patient triggers for challenging behaviour."

Staff agreed with inspectors that PBS plans required "significant improvement".

The ‘majority’ of staff told HIW that senior managers "were visible and that communication between senior management and staff was effective. There were regular staff meetings for staff to raise and discuss any issues and provide feedback on their experience of working in the hospital".

However, there was no formal supervision process in place for staff. 

Some staff told HIW that they had not had any supervision during their time in the hospital.

However it was found that robust procedures were in place for the safe management of medicines, clinic rooms were clean and tidy, and medication fridges were kept locked.

The following recommendations made by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales:

  • Ensure all staff are compliant with STMVA (Safe and Therapeutic Management of Violence and Aggression) training;
  • Ensure only staff who are compliant with their STMVA training undertake restrictive interventions to protect patients and staff from harm;
  • Information must be captured and recorded in a streamlined and consistent way within patient records to ensure efficiency and accessibility for staff;
  • Ensure Short Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability assessments and Positive Behaviour Support plans are completed for all patients;
  • Patient Care and Treatment Plans must be reviewed to ensure the patient voice is evident throughout;
  • A PAT testing audit must be undertaken of all portable electrical goods.

A spokesperson from Elysium Healthcare said: "The safety and wellbeing of our patients is our highest priority, and we welcome the scrutiny which come from Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.

"We were pleased to see that inspectors recognised the commitment of our dedicated staff team and the way in which they treated all patients with dignity and respect.

"The report also made mention of the hospital’s good multiagency safeguarding relationships and we would like to thank our partners for their support over the last 12 months.

"In terms of the required improvements, the senior leadership team has already formulated and enacted a robust action plan which covers themes of governance and training plus a review of the required systems and processes. We look forward to evidencing these improvements at our next inspection."