- Independent mental health service
Woodbourne Priory Hospital
Report from 3 October 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings - Specialist eating disorder services
Our view of the service
We inspected Oak Ward at Woodbourne Priory on October 29 and 30. Oak ward is a nine bedded eating disorder ward run by a multi-disciplinary team (MDT). Their aim is to provide an effective treatment package for both males and females aged 18 years and over, who require an inpatient stay to monitor, stabilise and treat their eating disorder.
At the previous inspection the eating disorder service was rated requires improvement in safe and well-led. It was rated good in all other areas. At this assessment we found improvements and our rating of this service improved. We rated it as good.
The environment was clean and well maintained. The ward manager ensured all permanent staff completed specialist training, and use of external staff was kept to a minimum. Patients told us staff involved them in producing their care plans and their risk assessments and included them in Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) reviews.
However, we saw some informal patients were not always able to freely leave the ward. Information displayed around rights did not clearly explain informal patients right to leave the ward. Staff completed mental capacity assessments for patients lacking capacity, but they were not always decision and time specific in line with legislation.
The service was in breach of regulation 9, person centred care.
Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act Compliance Summary
Mental Health Act
Staff were trained in and understood the Mental Health Act, the Code of Practice, and the guiding principles.
Staff had access to administrative support and legal advice on the implementation of the Mental Health Act and its Code of Practice. Staff knew who their Mental Health Act administrators were, and relevant policies and procedures were in place.
Staff had easy access to local Mental Health Act policies and procedures and to the Code of Practice. Patients had access to independent mental health advocacy.
However, it was not always clear that informal patients were made aware of their right to leave the ward at any time. Information on informal patient rights to leave the ward was not clearly displayed. We also saw that informal patient’s wishes to leave the ward were not always followed with concerns around risk being noted as the reasoning.
Mental Capacity Act
The provider had a policy on the Mental Capacity Act, including deprivation of liberty safeguards. Staff were aware of the policy and had access to it. Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act, particularly the five statutory principles, but this was not always reflected in the recording of capacity assessments.
Staff completed capacity assessments for patients as part of the assessment upon admission. In one care record, we saw that staff did not always detail the patients’ voice or involvement, and assessments were not time and decision specific. However, we saw in some areas, such as care plans, that staff made decisions in patients’ best interests, recognising the importance of the person’s wishes, feelings, culture and history.
People's experience of this service
We spoke to 5 patients and 2 carers. Patient’s experiences were mixed. They felt most staff had helped and supported them, and patients told us that most staff were kind, helpful and made them feel safe. One patient told us staff provided them with copies of their care plans, and they felt involved and heard in their ward rounds. Staff kept families informed and invited them to ward rounds, with the patients’ consent.
However, all the patients we spoke with said not all the staff were approachable, and some staff had made inappropriate comments. They raised concerns about the skills of staff that were not familiar with the ward, including staff from other wards and bank staff. Two patients told us they had seen an increase in male staff working on the ward with 1 patient explaining this was challenging due to previous trauma. They also raised concern about the turnover of therapist staff and lack of consistency in this area with patients using the words ‘disorganised’ and ‘confused’ to describe therapy on the ward. Three patients and a carer shared their frustration that trips off the ward could be cancelled at the last minute and that staff did not always recognise the importance of patients going out for snacks.