- SERVICE PROVIDER
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
This is an organisation that runs the health and social care services we inspect
Report from 22 April 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings - Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units
Our view of the service
Millview hospital is part of Sussex Partnership NHS foundation trust which provides care and treatment for adults with acute mental health needs to aid recovery and wellbeing. The hospital had 5 wards at the time of this assessment, but we inspected Caburn and Regency wards which were female and male acute admissions wards respectively. The hospital was last rated as requires improvement and the report was published in December 2016 based on CQC’s old inspection approach using key lines of enquiry (KLOEs), prompts and ratings characteristics. This assessment has been completed using Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) new approach to assessment; Single Assessment Framework (SAF). We carried out our on-site assessment on 29 and 30 May 2024. This was an unannounced assessment, which means the provider was not told an assessment was going to be starting beforehand. We carried out this assessment as we had received information giving us concerns about the safety and quality of the service. During this assessment, we reviewed 28 quality statement across 2 key questions. As we assessed most quality statements in the key questions, safe and well-led, the rating for these key questions reflects the findings from this assessment. As we did not assess the quality statements from the key questions effective, caring and responsive, the rating from the previous inspection will be used to rate this key question. The service was found to be in breach of regulation 12 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The service was not manging medicines appropriately. We found that there was high use of medicines to reduce anxiety, agitation, and aggression on both wards. The service did not always detect and manage potential risks in the care environment. We found ligature risks in the bathrooms on Regency ward. The service did not have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance processes in place.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 19 patients and received mixed feedback about their safety on the wards. Patients told us they did not always feel safe on the ward; the ward environment was sometimes noisy and chaotic, and staff used restraint to manage distressed behaviours instead of using verbal de-escalation techniques. Patients felt the ward environment was not always clean. Patients told us the wards were sometimes short staffed. We spoke with seven carers and received mixed feedback from them. One carer told us information about the care of their relative was not always shared with them and the ward did not have the right email address to contact them.
However, patients told us they knew how to raise concerns about the service they received, and staff encouraged them to raise concerns. Patients told us they referred to posters on the wards which directed them to how to make a complaint or how to reach an independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA). Patients said they had debriefing sessions with the manager when they were involved in an incident. Two patients were positive about their experience of living at Caburn and Regency wards and felt they would be appropriately discharged when they were ready. Patients told us they were actively involved in the development and review of their care plans and risk assessments. Patients told us staff knew them well, were able to effectively support them to manage their risks and some staff were amazing. Most carers said they were involved in managing the risks of their relatives. One carer said they could not fault the hospital and that their relative seemed happier on the ward. Another carer said staff were great, treated their relative well and was pleased with the care and support their relative received.