A PRIVATE mental health hospital has agreed to a restriction on accepting new patients after “serious concerns” were raised over the way it’s being run.

Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) has issued a damning report into Ty Grosvenor in Wrexham, which provides rehabilitation care for 34 men and women with mental health conditions.

Inspectors paid a surprise visit to the independent hospital in July following a police incident which resulted in significant safeguarding and whistleblowing concerns being reported to the watchdog.

Officials found safety risks were not being properly monitored at the unit, which opened on Grosvenor Road in 2018, and criticised low nurse staffing levels at night.

They also cited the lack of guidelines in place for supervising patients at risk of self-harm whilst using bathroom facilities.

It has led to a non-compliance notice being issued against the hospital, which is now under the highest level of monitoring imposed by HIW.

Elysium Healthcare Ltd, which runs the facility, said it accepted the findings of the report and was taking steps to address the problems raised.

It comes after the company consented to voluntary restrictions on accepting new admissions until inspectors are satisfied they will not be exposed to harm.

In its report, HIW said: “Overall we were not assured that the registered provider had adequate systems and processes in place to ensure patients were receiving effective and safe care.

“Of particular concern was the lack of effective care planning when significant risks to the health and welfare of patients had been identified.

“The risks associated with bathroom access were of particular concern because it was documented that patients had no bathroom privacy but there was no care plan to guide staff in managing this risk when these patients had supervised bathroom access.

“In addition, care plans were not in place for wound care and for when the enhanced care facilities were being utilised.”

They added: “We also identified a lack of a registered nurse by night.

“This meant that the registered nurses on each of the wards were unable to take their allocated break from the ward and in the event of an incident they would have no second registered nurse available for support.”

HIW said some patients on one ward were fearful for their safety because of the behaviour of a fellow patient.

It led inspectors to question whether the woman had been suitably placed.

The hospital said an assessment had been carried out to see if a more secure setting was required, but felt it appropriate to keep her there following an improvement in her mental health.

Wrexham councillor Marc Jones, who represents the area the hospital is based in, said the findings of the report were concerning.

He said: “This is a very worrying report following an unannounced visit by the HIW.

“Patients appear to have been put at risk and the lack of sufficient registered nurses also puts staff at risk.

“There is a clear plan of action to put matters right. I’m sure HIW will continue to monitor the management of the site and I hope things improve for both patients and staff very quickly.”

The healthcare watchdog said it had received assurances since its visit that appropriate action was being taken to address the improvements required.

However, inspectors added: “The findings of this inspection are very concerning and have resulted in the service being designated a Service of Concern as described in our enforcement procedure.

“This means the hospital is under the highest level of scrutiny and HIW will be monitoring the service very closely to ensure that all required improvements are made and embedded within hospital practices to ensure sustainability.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Elysium Healthcare said: “The safety and wellbeing of our patients is always our highest priority and so we welcome the scrutiny that comes from our partners at the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.

“We fully accept the findings of this report and we have already implemented a quality improvement action plan to ensure that we swiftly address all of the recommendations.

“We are committed to providing care of the very highest standards and we are confident that the robust measures that have been put in place, in addition to more frequent internal audits, will result in the necessary improvements for the service.”