Thornford Park hospital in Crookham Hill says it has improved after poor rating

Thornford Park hospital in Crookham Hill says it has improved after a damning report from health watchdog the Care Quality Commission.

The 143-bed, 11-ward mental health hospital had been told it requires improvement in four out of the five areas inspected.

Each of the wards were graded, with inspectors saying on one ward the environment was ‘stark’ with all the furniture pushed to the wall and not conducive to a patient’s recovery.

The quality of care records on wards was variable, with some patients on Bucklebury and Hermitage wards saying they did not feel safe due to the risk of violence from other patients.

Violence and aggression was the most common incident type reported on the wards.

And there were insufficient activities on the wards to provide meaningful, therapeutic engagement for patients to support their path to recovery.

In a report to West Berkshire Council’s health scrutiny committee, Elysium Healthcare, which runs the hospital for the NHS, said it has now improved the hospital’s therapeutic programme and sharpened up some of its procedures.

Thornford Park provides inpatient medium and low secure forensic mental health services, including a ward for people with learning disabilities and a ward for people with autism.

It also has two psychiatric intensive care units and three rehabilitation flats.

The CQC rating of this location went down as requires improvement because it was short staffed, despite being told to improve on staffing levels in the previous inspection five years ago.

In its favour in the report, the learning disability and autism wards were rated as good overall. Staff, said the CQC, demonstrated a commitment to providing person-centred care for patients.