Heatherwood Hospital

⚠ Appropriate equipment was not always available to reduce the risk of harm (for example to prevent falls). This is a breach of Regulation 10 regarding the safety and suitability of premises. We also noted that a vanity unit in the wet room was wet and the wood had become damaged, …

⚠ We found significant concerns surrounding the provision of outpatients services. There are unacceptable waiting times for certain conditions, and 25% of appointments had been cancelled. Insufficient work had been done to improve the booking and appointment systems, waiting times and the cancellation of clinics. The numbers of cancellations regularly put …

⚠ Some wards and departments we visited had staff vacancies. There were some occasions when the required number of staff was not available for a shift; this could have an impact on patient safety. On ward 8, despite the recognised need for more staff, there were currently four full-time vacancies and …

⚠ There was no information available in a format for people with a learning disability (LD). There were no LD qualified nurses available in any clinic. There was a paediatric outreach clinic held at Heatherwood Hospital but we found that there was no paediatric-trained nurse present at this clinic.

⚠ Clinics ran late for a number of reasons, and patients said they had waited two hours without understanding the reason for the delay and no explanation had been provided. Receptionists and staff did not keep patients up to date or communicate particularly well with them.