A HEALTH watchdog has published a damning report on Parklands Hospital – calling for improvements to be made across the board.

The Basingstoke hospital, which is run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, was the subject of an unannounced visit by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on November 26, after concerns about patient care were flagged up to the CQC.

Parklands Hospital, which offers treatment and support for people with mental health needs, failed to meet five of the seven ‘essential standards’ on which the CQC assessed the facility.

During the visit, inspectors found instances of poor communication and of staff ignoring patients calling out.

After finding a patient “sucking on their hand and on the head of their doll”, inspectors were told by staff, who did not try to communicate with the patient, that was “how they were”.

Inspectors found patient privacy, dignity and independence were not always respected, and concluded the hospital did not meet the standard of ‘respecting and involving people who use services’.

The CQC also found that Parklands was failing to meet the essential standard for the ‘care and welfare of people who use services’, concluding that “people were at risk of not receiving the right support”, and finding care plans were not always followed by staff.

The ‘management of medicines’ standard was also not being hit, with records not being kept for all medicines which had been disposed of and medicines not always handled appropriately.

The ‘safety, availability and sustainability of equipment’ is also something the hospital, in Aldermaston Road, has been ordered to improve.

The hospital has also failed to hit the standard of ‘assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision’, with Parklands own audit failing to identify gaps in medicine records and the lack of stock of prescribed medicines.

Parklands Hospital met two of the seven essential standards – ‘supporting workers’ and ‘safeguarding people who use services from abuse’.

The CQC has ordered Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust to send it a report on Parklands Hospital, setting out action it will take.

Future checks will ensure these actions are implemented.

A Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: “We acted immediately to make improvements following the inspection, and have been working closely with the CQC since then.”

The spokesman added that improvements include additional training for staff, changes to checklists on the wards, and altering rotas to ensure the right mix of staff.