New problems for troubled Bulwell mental health hospital as regulator forced to step in
Regulators have been forced to step in at a troubled mental health unit after an inspection raised worrying new concerns.
The Rowan 2 ward at Highbury Hospital in Bulwell, run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, has been hit with nine restrictions on how it can operate.
Inspectors from Government watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) made an unannounced monitoring visit on July 2 and returned four days later for a risk-based inspection.
Three days later, on July 9, the regulator imposed nine registration conditions restricting how Nottinghamshire Healthcare could operate Rowan 2 ward.
The reasons for the restrictions have not been released publicly because the inspection report has not yet been published.
Most notably no new patients including readmissions may be admitted to the ward without the CQC’s prior written agreement.
The condition says: “Any proposed admission must be submitted to the CQC for consideration and approval before the patient is admitted”.
The trust must provide evidence that decisions considered individual risks continuity of care needs and the impact on patient safety.
It must also give the CQC a weekly report detailing action and progress on risks involving prohibited items patient assessments care plans medical reviews shift leadership staffing capacity incident response and oversight of patients’ whereabouts.
Each report must identify completed actions outstanding risks responsible leads completion timescales and how the trust is checking that improvements work in practice.
Other conditions required are:
- A designated person to coordinate and oversee every shift
- Safe management of risks and prohibited items with individual risks clearly recorded and care plans in place and required medical reviews
- Accurate contemporaneous care records including plans assessments and handovers
- Records showing patients’ nutrition and hydration needs are met; processes keeping staff aware of patients’ whereabouts
- Suitably trained coordinated staff able to respond promptly to incidents.
The CQC often reinspects soon after imposing conditions to ensure a healthcare provider is making improvements.
Highbury Hospital has faced other concerns including the suspension of 30 staff in early 2024 during a misconduct investigation with some later sacked.
It was also among the places where killer Valdo Calocane was treated before the Nottingham attacks in June 2023.
Earlier this year an inquest jury found that a healthcare worker’s neglect contributed to patient Louise Furlong’s death in 2022.
Ms Furlong was allowed to take her own life while a staff member assigned to watch her falsified observation records and was instead seen on CCTV sitting on a communal area sofa.
A trust spokesperson said: “Earlier this year the CQC placed conditions of operation on one of our wards at Highbury Hospital.”
The spokesperson said the trust accepted the decision and findings in full and apologised to any patient who did not receive the care they deserved.
It acted immediately by strengthening ward leadership and staffing and improving patient safety processes while senior leaders attended daily and heard directly from patients about their care.
The trust said it had made good progress against every condition was regularly updating the CQC and welcomed its return to review whether improvements were sustained for the future and reassure the wider community and reaffirmed its commitment to safe high-quality compassionate care for patients.