Priory Hospital Newbury receives recognition for outstanding patient safety practice

•  A study into patient risk assessments, conducted at Priory Hospital Newbury, has been published by renowned medical journal Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry
• The research, which was led by Dr Farshad Shaddel, a Consultant Psychiatrist at Priory, introduces a new way for staff to assess patient risk
• The system has been praised by staff and patients alike and the CQC noted how the research project was an example of “outstanding practice” which resulted in safe, unrestrictive care being delivered.

Priory Hospital Newbury, recently rated as ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, has received recognition from renowned medical journal Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry which has published the service’s study on patient risk assessments.

The research, led by Dr Farshad Shaddel, Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director at Newbury, aimed to provide staff with a supportive framework in which they can assess patient risk and accurately rank it as low, medium or high.

“The aim of this study was to support the delivery of a more effective risk assessment system,” said Dr Shaddel who is also an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Oxford.

“When staff are asked about the necessary proponents of a patient’s care plan, they will often suggest the same components, yet, when it comes to identifying risk level, they may have different answers.

“Risk assessments are incredibly important and can be detrimental to patients’ health if they underestimate certain elements of a person’s behaviour or condition or, on the other hand, significantly impact a patient if too restrictive. We therefore wanted to build a system which ensured a more accurate, consistent approach.”

Dr Shaddel and colleagues implemented a trial system which considered what a patient’s risk would be rated by factoring in how the care plan might lower it.

“This means we would rate a risk as ‘low’ if no care plan is needed to mitigate it. The risk would be ‘medium’ when it is fully supported by the care plan, rather than ‘low’. We would rate a risk as ‘high’ if the risk still persisted, even with a care plan*.”

“We noticed immediately an improvement in consistency of response from our frontline staff when we implemented this approach,” added Dr Shaddel.

“Colleagues responded better to risks, and there was a reduction in restrictive interventions. It also helped our multidisciplinary teams to review care plans to support management and mitigation of risks.”

Patients at Newbury have also said that the new system makes them feel listened to and that they are actively involved in plans to manage their risks.

“I always feel safe on the ward,” said one patient, who felt encouraged to take ‘positive risks’ in his care. “I never feel my risks are not properly managed,” he added.

Dr Shaddel said the new approach can be used with any risk assessment tool or template.

“New National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend using ‘historical’ and ‘current’ for rating risks instead of the traditional low to high scale,” he explained.

“With this approach it can be adapted so we can rate a risk ‘historical’ when currently there is no need for a care plan to contain it (equivalent of ‘low’), and we can rate the risk as ‘current’ if staff would need to implement a care plan to manage it (equivalent of ‘medium’ and ‘high’).”

Priory Hospital Newbury is a high dependency rehabilitation service for individuals with enduring mental illness working towards living life back in the community. It supports patients who require a high level of care and intensive therapeutic support.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which rated the service as ‘outstanding’ in December 2023 to make it one of the top 8% of mental health hospitals in the UK, was also impressed by the initiative.

In its report, the CQC noted: “A quality improvement research project had been undertaken to ensure the consistency of risk assessment and care planning. This had resulted in safer, less restrictive care being delivered. Patients were fully involved in planning their care. Records were of a very high standard.”

ENDS

Note to editors:

Contact: [email protected]

About Priory and MEDIAN

Priory is the UK’s leading independent provider of mental health and adult social care 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, the leading European provider of high-quality mental health and rehabilitation services. The MEDIAN Group comprises: Priory in the UK with 290 facilities and 5,000 beds caring for 28,000 people, MEDIAN in Germany with 120 facilities and 20,000 beds caring for around 250,000 patients, and Hestia in Spain with 15 facilities and 2,100 beds caring for 11,000 people in Spain, with more than 29,000 employees across the group.