BOSSES at a Wellington mental health hospital have said that ‘the care and well-being of patients was of the upmost importance’ despite receiving a critical report from the Care Quality Commission.

A report from the CQC was published this month following inspection visits in October and November last year at the 75-bed Wellesley Hospital at Chelston run by Elysium Healthcare.

A summary of the inspection said not all registered nurses knew where medicines were kept or what they were used for, various medication administration errors had been made, records were incomplete, a high number of assaults had been carried out involving patients on staff and other patients, low morale among staff, and the rights of patients in a low-security ward were not being respected.

“Patients we spoke with told us that the staff were kind and respectful, however all said that they had little confidence about the ability of staff to deal with and manage incidents safely,” said the CQC report.

“Some patients told us of occasions where they have involved themselves in incidents to stop any further harm coming to either staff or patients.”

For the full story see this week’s Wellington Weekly News.