We rated Rhodes Wood Hospital as good overall because:

• The environment was visibly clean and homely. Furnishings had been chosen to create a child friendly atmosphere.
• Risks relating to ligatures had been identified and mitigated against. Staffing levels were based upon occupancy and acuity levels which were monitored regularly by ward managers and senior staff.
• All staff had received level 3 safeguarding training and there was a designated safeguarding lead social worker who had established links with the local authority safeguarding officer (LADO) to review all safeguarding referrals and concerns.
• The service offered specialist training on eating disorders to all staff.
• There were robust reporting systems in place for staff to learn lessons from serious incidents and to respond to complaints.
• Comprehensive risk assessments and care plans were completed pre-admission through to discharge and reviewed weekly and when an individual patient’s presentation changed.
• There was a large multi-disciplinary team which offered family therapy, psychology, psychotherapy, dietetics, nursing and psychiatry. The MDT attended a daily handover to have up to date information on patients.
• The care model was clearly defined and followed National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance for eating disorders including the use of the Junior MARSIPAN (management of the really sick patient with anorexia nervosa under 18's).
• Feedback from patients and their families was generally positive. There were support groups offered for families fortnightly.
• Following discharge the service routinely offered a 12 week follow-up package of care which supported the patient and their family to adjust to the community setting and allowed weekend access to the service for more intense support where appropriate. Patients were routinely offered an innovative therapeutic intervention called cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) to all patients during their admission at Rhodes Wood hospital. This intervention had been published in a psychology journal.

However:

• We found some medical equipment to monitor physical healthcare was not recently calibrated or was out of date. This was resolved at the time of the unannounced visit.
• We found that prior to January 2017 not all qualified staff had received regular supervision.