The Care Quality Commission
  • Hospital
  • Independent hospital

Chartwell Hospital

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

1629 London Road, Leigh On Sea, Essex, SS9 2SQ (01702) 478885

Provided and run by:
Chartwell Private Hospital and Diagnostics Limited

All Inspections

During an assessment of Diagnostic imaging

Chartwell Private Hospital is an independently run Diagnostic and Treatment Centre. The Hospital offers, outpatient consulting rooms with phlebotomy facilities on the ground floor, an endoscopy unit covering diagnostic scopes of all types, including colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy with a diagnostics suite and MRI, situated in the basement. The hospital offered services 7 days a week. They provided services for both NHS and private referrals for adults over the age of 18. The hospital had a registered manager in post for 4 years and was registered for diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The hospital was previously inspected on 12 October 2023 diagnostic imaging was inspected but not rated. The service was last rated in March 2022 which inspected diagnostic imaging, medical care and outpatient. We commenced a focused announced inspection looking at safe and well-led domains for diagnostic imaging, medical care and outpatients. During the inspection, we spoke with staff, leaders and people who use the service. We looked at care records, policies and other documents relating to the service. The service did not ensure patient safety checks were completed in line with guidance. The service did not share lessons learned from incidents. The service did not keep equipment clean and safe for patient use. The service did not always use effective systems to clean the MRI machine. Leaders did not operate effective processes for governance, information management and the management of risk, issues and performance. Policies were generic and did not reflect up-to-date national guidance. However, staff had up to date mandatory training and all staff had up to date DBS checks. Leaders had made improvements to the environment to ensure it was safe for patient use. During our assessment, we found concerns which resulted in a breach of regulations 12 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

During an assessment of Medical care (Including older people's care)

Chartwell Private Hospital is an independently run Diagnostic and Treatment Centre. The Hospital offers, outpatient consulting rooms with phlebotomy facilities on the ground floor, an endoscopy unit covering diagnostic scopes of all types, including colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy and MRI is situated in the basement. The hospital centre offered services 7 days a week. They provided services for both NHS and private referrals for adults over the age of 18. The hospital had a registered manager in post for 4 years and was registered for diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The hospital was previously inspected on 12 October 2023 diagnostic imaging was inspected but not rated. The service was last rated during the March 2022 inspection in which diagnostic imaging, medical care and outpatients were inspected. We commenced a focused announced inspection looking at safe and well-led domains for diagnostic imaging, medical care and outpatients. During the inspection, we spoke with staff, leaders and people who use the service. We looked at care records, policies and other documents relating to the service. The service did not always complete administration records accurately. People were not always having their physical health monitoring recorded when recovering from procedures. Leaders did not operate effective processes for governance, information management and the management of risk, issues and performance. Policies were generic and did not reflect up-to-date national guidance. However, managers shared learning with their staff about lessons learned following incidents. During our assessment, we found concerns which resulted in a breach of regulations 12 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

During an assessment of Outpatients

Chartwell Private Hospital is an independently run Diagnostic and Treatment Centre. The Hospital offers, outpatient consulting rooms with phlebotomy facilities on the ground floor, an endoscopy unit covering diagnostic scopes of all types, including colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy and a diagnostics suite is situated in the basement. The hospital centre offered services 7 days a week. They provided services for both NHS and private referrals for adults over the age of 18. The hospital had a registered manager in post for 4 years and was registered for diagnostic and screening procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The hospital was previously inspected on 12 October 2023 diagnostic imaging was inspected but not rated. The service was last rated during the March 2022 inspection in which diagnostic imaging, medical care and outpatients were inspected. We commenced a focused announced inspection looking at safe and well-led domains for diagnostic imaging, medical care and outpatients. During the inspection, we spoke with staff, leaders and people who use the service. We looked at care records, policies and other documents relating to the service. The service did not always complete administration records accurately. People were not always having their physical health monitoring recorded when recovering from procedures. Leaders did not operate effective processes for governance, information management and the management of risk, issues and performance. Policies were generic and did not reflect up-to-date national guidance. However, managers shared learning with their staff about lessons learned following incidents. During our assessment, we found concerns which resulted in a breach of regulations 12 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

During an assessment of the hospital overall

Chartwell Private Hospital is an independently operated Diagnostic and Treatment Centre. The facility includes outpatient consulting rooms with phlebotomy services on the ground floor, and a comprehensive endoscopy unit located in the basement. The endoscopy unit provides diagnostic procedures such as colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy, alongside a diagnostics suite. The hospital operates seven days a week, catering to both NHS and private referrals for adults aged 18 and over. A registered manager, in post for four years, oversees the hospital, which is registered for diagnostic and screening procedures as well as the treatment of disease, disorder, and injury. On 12 October 2023, the hospital was assessed with a focus on diagnostic imaging but was not given a rating. Previously, in March 2022, the hospital was evaluated across Diagnostic Imaging, Medical Care, and Outpatient services, with all three areas rated as requires Improvement. In July 2024, the hospital was reassessed in these areas, focusing on the key questions of safe and well-led. Whilst Diagnostic Imaging remained rated as requires Improvement, Outpatients and Medical Care showed improvement, achieving ratings of "Good."

12 October 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an unannounced focussed inspection of Chartwell Hospital on 12 October 2023. The purpose was to look a specific aspects of the diagnostic imaging services provided by Chartwell Hospital. Concerns were initially raised by system partners about the safety of the environment and equipment at the hospital.

This inspection was focussed and we did not gather sufficient evidence to re-rate the service.

During this inspection we reviewed the safety and cleanliness of the environment. We also checked whether medicines were being managed safely and that staff were carrying out correct procedures to make sure patients were kept safe from avoidable harm during procedures.

The service was visibly clean and staff followed the necessary infection, prevention and control procedures.

Medicines were managed safely, although medicine fridge temperatures were not always monitored, which posed a potential risk that medicines in the fridge may not be safe to use if the temperature fell outside the normal accceptable range. Senior leaders explained that this was because the endoscopy service was not currently operating at the time of the inspection and the fridge was not therefore in use.

Staff made sure scanning equipment was used safely, but did not always utilise the Mangetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) safety questionaire to help guarantee the scanner was safe to use.

01 March 2022 10 March 2022

During a routine inspection

This was the first time the hospital had been inspected at individual core service level.

We rated it as requires improvement because:

  • We rated three of the hospital’s core services as requires improvement. We rated the hospital as requires improvement for safe and inadequate for being well-led.
  • The service did not control infection risk well.
  • The service did not store all medicines safely.
  • Staff did not always follow guidance when completing the surgical safety checklist.
  • The provider did not manage safety incidents well and did not share learned lessons from them.
  • The provider did not make sure that all medical staff had completed mandatory training.
  • Staff did not always record that patients had consented for their care.
  • The service’s governance structure did not ensure performance and risks were managed effectively.
  • Staff did not always feel respected, supported and valued.
  • Staff were not always clear about their roles and accountabilities.
  • The provider did not have a clear vision and strategy.
  • The provider did not have effective assurance system in to monitor referrals to the GMC by other organisations for consultants working under practicing privileges.

However:

  • The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills and understood how to protect patients from abuse. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records.
  • Staff provided good care and treatment and gave them pain relief when they needed it. Managers made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to good information.
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions. They provided emotional support to patients, families and carers.
  • The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment.