'Significant improvements' made by Annesley hospital for women with mental illness

The Priory Hospital East Midlands, formerly known as Annesley House, on Mansfield Road, was lambasted by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after an inspection in 2022 and placed in ‘special measures’.

The CQC inspectors ruled that the private hospital was not safe and not well-led, and said ‘urgent enforcement action’ would be taken if improvements were not made.

Two warning notices related to patients being put at risk and a lack of staff with the relevant skills and competence.

However, the hospital insisted a “a robust action plan” was in place to address all the issues raised, and “positive changes” were being made.

As the CQC continued to monitor the hospital, its rating was upgraded to ‘Requires Improvement’ last year.

Now, after its latest, unannounced inspection in May, it has been judged to be ‘Good’, both overall and in all five individual categories, which determine that the hospital is now safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

According to the inspectors’ report, the Priory is a 19-bed hospital operated by Partnerships In Care Ltd, with its manager being Kevin Mafukidze.

It “offers specialised assessment and treatment to help patients return to either local services or alternative, appropriate accommodation”.

The CQC report said: “We found that the service had made significant improvements.

"Patients felt supported by staff, who were compassionate and caring. Managers supported staff to complete appropriate training and regular managerial supervision.

"Where we found issues, management acted immediately to ensure that improvements were made and that there was no impact on patients.”

Among the alarming findings in 2022 were a shortage of qualified nurses, medicines not being managed properly and a staggering total of 707 safety incidents inside three months.

However, it was very different this time, with inspectors reporting that “patients felt safe and supported” and that “staff treated them with dignity and respect”.

"Patients were involved in their care and treatment plans, and they had no concerns with the medication they were taking,” the report went on.

"They received information about how to be as well as possible. And they had access to the hospital’s garden and gym, various activities and external services, such as their GP and dentist.”