Enter and view: Bowmere Hospital, the Countess Of Cheshire Health Park
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Healthwatch Cheshire West conducted an two Enter and View visits to Bowmere Hospital on 7 and 8 January 2015.
Bowmere Hospital, located on the Countess of Chester Health Park, is a modern building replacing the former Deva Hospital on this site. The service is operated by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, with the hospital providing a range of mental health services for adults, young adults and adolescents. These include psychiatric intensive care units and inpatient wards.
Specialist services at the centre include assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the 1983 Act, caring for people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act, dementia, eating disorders, mental health conditions, substance misuse problems, treatment of disease, disorder or injury – formal and informal treatment. Each of the wards visited had an experienced ward manager who appeared to know their patients well. The hospital policy is that ward managers have a clinical background and resource managers have been appointed to relieve them of administrative burdens.
The Enter and View Authorised Representatives reported feeling that that all wards and staff work closely together. All staff appeared happy, caring and good communication skills were noted. They further noted that an air of calmness was apparent in the wards we visited, cleanliness was excellent throughout and bathrooms and toilets were clean and uncluttered. Rosewood and Willow wards had laundry rooms where clients were encouraged to do their own laundry. The overall impression of these wards was that the standard of care is very high in pleasant well planned surroundings that were well cleaned.
The visiting team felt that felt that staff were devoted to their job and cared for the welfare of their patients. The Authorised Representatives were told that there is a strong commitment to involve and support carers and families who contribute to planning the care programme for clients. There is significant co-ordination taking place with consultants in the community, the Trust's other community teams and other agencies including social care.
The visiting team reported being pleased to see that each ward had a display board showing staff photographs and explaining the management structure. Within the wards visited, there appeared to be an overall consistent methodology of delivery to clients, which ensures clients are provided with good quality care and outcomes. This was further enhanced by the fact that there appeared to be a low turn over of staff within the service.
The report suggests that the trust consider improvements to accessible toilet located near to cafeteria, follow up on patients requests for bean bag seats, consider accessibility issues regarding the Intermediate Flats on site. The report also notes that the hospital’s website needs updating with more information provided in layman’s terms.
The provider responded to say that staff all reported that the Authorised Representatives from Healthwatch Cheshire West were respectful of the ward team and the patient’s privacy and dignity and provided a relaxed and positive visit. The Trust is delighted about the positive feedback provided following the visits and welcome the feedback from the Authorised Representatives and the opportunity to improve the services we provide. We will review the environment specifically relating to the accessibility of the toilet facilities within the main corridor, the patients requests for bean bags and the outside environment.