Mental health hospital cleared to admit new patients following inspection

A mental health hospital in Wrexham has been de-escalated as a “Service of Concern” following an inspection by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.

New Hall Independent Hospital in Wrexham, managed by Mental Health Care UK, provides specialist care to a maximum of 10 patients aged between 18 and 64 years, who have been diagnosed with both learning disabilities and mental disorders.

The hospital was originally placed within HIW’s Service of Concern process following an inspection in March 2023 after issues were raised about several medication administration errors, the availability of life-saving equipment and fire safety breaches.

As a resulted the hospital was prevented from admitting any new patients due to the level of risks identified.

Improvements

The hospital was reinspected in October 2023 and was found to have made significant improvements.

Inspectors found areas of concern had been improved, including incident and risk reporting procedures, and the process for checking the availability of emergency life-saving equipment.

They also found evidence of fire risk assessments being regularly updated and noted fire exits were now easily accessible.

Chief Executive of HIW, Alun Jones said: ‘It is reassuring to see improvements have been made since our previous inspection of New Hall Hospital to ensure patients are receiving safe and effective care.

“The setting must ensure that these measures remain in place and the processes implemented are sustainable now and in the future. We will continue to engage with the service to ensure progress against our findings are actioned and improved.”