Wigan mental health hospital for young people gets ‘good’ rating from inspectors

The Care Quality Commission visited Fir Trees Independent Hospital in Lower Ince and gave it the second-highest available grading overall and in all other sub-categories of assessment.

Fir Trees is a not-for-profit facility and has long-stay rehabilitation mental health wards for working-age adults. The CQC said the hospital was safe and clean and staff assessed and managed risk well and stored medication safely.​

“They minimised the use of restrictive practices, and developed holistic, recovery-orientated care plans informed by comprehensive assessment,” the report said.

“They provided a range of treatments suitable to the needs of patients and this was done in line with national guidance and best practice.”

It said that Fir Trees care teams had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients including occupational therapy and psychology.

“Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and understood the individual needs of patients,” the report went on.

“Carers confirmed they were actively involved in care decisions. Patients were positive about the care they received and felt involved in decisions. All patients interviewed felt safe and carers were also satisfied with the service.”

However, the report pointed out that despite most records being electronic, staff had continued to create large paper records which were not always as up-to-date as the electronic record.

“This meant that staff did not always have access to the most up-to-date information,” the report added.

Fir Trees is managed by the Alternative Futures Group which is a registered charity which has several other mental health hospitals and community services in the North West. It is a 14-bed hospital, providing rehabilitation to both patients detained under the Mental Health Act and informal patients.

A spokesperson for Alternative Futures said: “We are delighted with the ‘good’ CQC rating. The report highlights that patients were positive about the care they received.”