Hospital rated ‘inadequate’ after death prompts inspection

A private hospital has been rated ‘inadequate’ by a health watchdog following an inspection prompted by a young patient’s preventable death.

Woodbourne Priory Hospital, in Edgbaston, has had its overall Care Quality Commission rating downgraded from “good” to “inadequate” after inspectors visited in May.

The regulator’s visit was sparked by a prevention of future deaths report into the death of Birmingham University graduate Matthew Caseby, 23, who was placed at the hospital as an NHS-funded patient in September 2020.

Mr Caseby had been detained under the Mental Health Act but managed to escape Woodbourne and died after being struck by a train.

Earlier this year, an inquest concluded his death was contributed to by neglect on behalf of the hospital. 

In April, Birmingham and Solihull coroner Louise Hunt flagged urgent concerns about record keeping, risk assessments and security of courtyard fences with Priory Group and the Department of Health and Social Care.

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Source: HSJ, 22 September 2022