Mental healthcare facility Priory Hospital Newbury on Monks Lane has CQC rating raised from good to outstanding

A Newbury mental healthcare facility has had its rating raised from good to outstanding following a recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection.

Priory Hospital Newbury, located next to Falkland Surgery on Monks Lane, is a high dependency rehabilitation service for individuals with enduring mental illness working towards living life back in the community.

It supports people who require a high level of care and intensive therapeutic support.

Its new outstanding rating is the highest available, and it means the Priory Hospital Newbury is among the highest performing service of its kind in the country, with only eight per cent of mental health services awarded the outstanding rating by the CQC.

Hospital director Trudi Pheasant said: “We are absolutely overjoyed with the outcome of our unannounced inspection.

“It was an incredible achievement, not by me, but by my team.

“It has given the staff a real boost.

“What was really amazing was what our patients said about us. We are all in it for the patients.

“It was good to hear them speak so highly of the work that we do.”

The CQC inspection took place last month, and its ratings for how safe, effective and caring it is were all upgraded to outstanding.

“Without exception, all patients spoken with said their lives had improved since coming to Priory Hospital Newbury,” said inspectors in their report, adding that patients described “being given ‘another chance’, when others had given up on them, to live their best life”.

CQC director for the south Serena Coleman said: “When we inspected Priory Hospital Newbury we found an exceptional service where staff were very knowledgeable about the people they looked after.

“They knew how to support people and their loved ones in an individual, personalised way and this was reflected in the level of detail in people’s care plans.

“A thoughtful and considered approach was taken towards people’s medicines and empowering people with physical health conditions to manage their medication.

“Staff and people were supported by a skilled leadership team, who led by example to promote an open and person-centred culture.”

The inspection also found that the Priory had developed good relationships with the local community which supported patients to have access to a wide range of activities and amenities, and patients were also actively encouraged and supported to take up work and volunteering opportunities and join local clubs.

Staff had received training in caring for LGBTQ+ people, and patients had access to spiritual, religious, and cultural support.

Ms Coleman added: “The team at Priory Hospital Newbury should be really proud of the care they’re providing.

“Other service providers should look at this report to see if there’s anything they can learn about supporting people during such a difficult time in their lives.”