Statement in response to CQC Inspection Report of Woodlands Hospital
A Spokesperson for Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said:
“We welcome the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report into our Woodlands Hospital, following their inspection in November 2022. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the patients and carers whose standards of care fell below what they should have received. We have taken serious note of the concerns they raised at the time and immediately addressed them.
“Some of the improvements have included appointing a Clinical Lead Nurse at Woodlands who is focused on the improvement of quality and safety outcomes for patients. We are also addressing staffing levels to make sure they are not just safe, but are at the optimum levels needed to deliver the best care possible.
“Like many areas of the NHS we do rely on temporary staffing to support us during periods of staff sickness, vacancies or increased acuity. However since this inspection, we have made sure that temporary staff have the same access to our electronic systems, policies, procedures, training and reporting arrangements as permanent GMMH staff members so that all patients will receive the same high standards of care from every team member.
“We have made improvements to the physical environment and equipment, and weekly checks are in place to make sure standards are maintained. We have also addressed the medicines management issues by carrying out regular audits to ensure medicines are safely and securely stored.
“We will continue to work with the CQC to ensure we maintain these improvements. We are working very hard to make all our services better for those we care for and those who work for us. We would like to thank everyone who is working with us as we continue on this improvement journey.”
