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CQC ‘Good’ Rating on Five Key Lines of Enquiry

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Ellern Mede Ridgeway as ‘Good’ in its latest inspection report published 9 May 2022. The CQC also identified two areas of Outstanding Practice.  As well as the overall ‘Good’ rating, Ellern Mede Ridgeway was recognised as ‘Good’ in each of the CQC’s five key lines of enquiry – safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.  Read the report on the CQC website here.

Paula  Stanford, Managing Director for the Ellern Mede Group commented: “The whole team at Ellern Mede Ridgeway feels proud of the CQC inspection report, especially for the positive comments made by the inspectors, our patients and their families.

“We work hard to demonstrate that our intensive and general inpatient eating disorders treatments offers a life line to patients and their families. There has been a rise in demand for our services since the pandemic and reports such as this help families have confidence and hope that there is compassionate and effective help available.”

Some of the highlights in the report are:

Young people reported the majority of staff were kind, thoughtful and supportive. One young person commented that when they were upset, staff were able to comfort them and help them feel safe.

The majority of carers spoke with very high praise for the staff and the care that had been offered at this hospital. One carer said the service went above and beyond, and another said they looked at their child as a whole person, supporting their individual needs.

The service had received 19 compliments within the last six months. These included compliments from young people who have left the service and were thanking the service for the support in their recovery.

Areas of Outstanding Practice

The CQC reported:

“We found the following outstanding practice:

  • All young people completed a Patient Inclusion in Least Restrictive Intervention Management Plan (PILRIMP) with staff. This was a set of questions which allowed young people to discuss any possible future restraints and their preferred management of these incidents. This allowed staff to support young people to develop their own personalised support plans, including triggers and preferred interventions. These plans were handwritten by the young people, in their own words
  • The hospital had developed the role of an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lead nurse in response to the increase of referrals for young people with ASD or ASD traits, as well as an eating disorder. This role provided individual assessments and care planning for young people as well as support and guidance for staff. The service planned to increase the capacity of the ASD lead nurse by training non-registered nurses to be ASD champions.

Actions for progress

We have committed to and started on further progress including staff retention, activity to fill vacancies and improved recording of night time staffing.

We are continuously auditing the accuracy of our medication management.

We have increased communication, including signage, so that patients and carers are well informed on the location and purpose of having CCTV in public areas of the hospital.

We are engaged in regular refurbishment of our communal areas including patient lounges.

We will ensure that we communicate well to patients and their families about our policies with regards to inclusive treatment for patients with protected characteristics.

We are working to speed up turnaround time on service repairs.

For more information about Ellern Mede please call 0203 209 7900 and ask for the Marketing Officer or email [email protected]