CQC and patients praise Priory’s Woking hospital

• Patients say hospital staff are ‘wonderful’ and ‘couldn’t do enough for them’
• Care Quality Commission inspectors say Priory’s Woking hospital is well-led, safe, and ‘good’ overall
• Patients have a ‘very positive’ impression of their time in the hospital, they say
• Staff treated patients with ‘compassion and kindness’
• Food was ‘amazing’

The Priory’s hospital in Woking, Surrey has been widely praised by the independent health and social care regulator - and by patients.

Care Quality Commission inspectors said the hospital was rated ‘good’ overall, and ‘good’ for being safe and well-led, with patients treated with “kindness and compassion”.

“The service managed beds well so that a bed was always available locally to a person who would benefit from admission,” they said.

“The hospital was well-led, and staff provided recovery-oriented care plans. The ward teams included, or had access, to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients.”

Its report is based on its most recent, “focused”, inspection, following a previous rating of ‘requires improvement’. The hospital successfully implemented an action plan and the CQC said that, following regular engagement meetings and its monitoring of the hospital’s plan, it was now rating the hospital ‘good’. Priory Woking is a 33-bed hospital for adults experiencing mental health conditions including depression, stress, anxiety and addictions.

“We spoke with seven patients across two wards who gave us a very positive view of their experiences in the wards,” inspectors said. “They felt the staff treated them well and the atmosphere in the wards was relaxed and safe. Patients told us they felt involved in their care planning and decision-making and were able to be supported by family members. The patients said the staff were wonderful and couldn’t do enough for them. They told us the food was amazing and doctors were good. All patients said the wards were clean and comfortable.”

Patients and carers said staff were “always available” to answer their questions and offer support. “All staff we spoke with had a really good understanding of (patient) observations, and kept up-to-date with safeguarding policy. The hospital had an experienced leadership team; the hospital director moved to the hospital in 2021 and the director of clinical services had considerable previous experience both in nursing and management. Staff reported high morale and were happy in their roles.

The hospital has introduced training for an autistic spectrum disorder pathway – the intention is to develop an ASD treatment pathway which includes occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, creative therapies and individual therapy sessions.

Hospital director Paul O’Connor said: “This report is testimony to a concerted team effort across the entire hospital to deliver safe and high quality care to all those who come to us when they need help. Their treatment and recovery is our utmost priority, and I am pleased the CQC recognises our absolute commitment to this.”

Chief Executive Officer Rebekah Cresswell praised the team: “It is so important to us at Priory to be able to meet people in their time of need to enable them to get back to living their lives to the full. I am really proud of the team at Woking, who are committed and passionate about what they do.”

ENDS

Contact: [email protected]

About Priory and MEDIAN

Priory is the UK’s leading independent provider of mental health services. We treat more than 70 conditions, including depression, anxiety, addictions and eating disorders, as well as children’s mental health, across our nationwide network of sites. We also support autistic adults and adults with a learning disability, Prader-Willi Syndrome and brain injuries, as well as older people, within our specialist residential care and supported living facilities – helping as many people as possible to live their lives.

Priory is part of the MEDIAN Group, one of Europe’s leading providers of high quality mental health and rehabilitation services. The MEDIAN Group comprises 290 facilities with 5,000 beds caring for 28,000 people in the UK, 120 facilities with 20,000 beds caring for around 250,000 patients in Germany, and 15 facilities with 2,000 beds caring for 13,000 people in Spain, with more than 29,000 employees overall.