AN eating disorders clinic where patients were at "risk of physical and psychological harm" is working to improve its services.

Schoen Clinic York is now in special measures after it was rated “inadequate” in all categories.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned that if the clinic is still rated “inadequate” overall or in a core service in six months’ time it could start the procedure to close it down.

A spokesman for the clinic off Haxby Road, which is part of the Schoen Clinic Group, said it was disappointed with the rating.

“We immediately commenced close working with the CQC to take all steps required to implement immediate changes and improvements," they said.

"We also engaged and worked constructively with the local NHS provider collaborative and NHS England who have been supportive of our actions and are assured that our York facility is a safe and caring environment for their patients.

"The Schoen Clinic Group have invested significantly into this service including a facility upgrade, new systems and safety procedures and we remain proud of our record of no serious clinical incidents.”

The CQC’s report on its most recent inspection of the York clinic said: “Staff and patients told us it was common for patients to have to wait to eat breakfast because the service had run out of milk and examples were provided where milk had gone out of date and bread was mouldy.”

Staff and patients raised concerns about the quality and availability of food including limited or no food option for patients requiring vegan, dairy free, gluten free and Kosher diets.

Summarising the clinic’s problems overall, the report said: “The service provided care that put patients at the risk of physical and psychological harm because their needs, including dietary needs, were not always met, patients’ risks and environmental risks from ligature anchor points were not assessed properly and not managed or mitigated sufficiently.”

It said the premises were not fit for purposes, some staff reported a culture where they could not raise concerns without fear of retribution and bullying and harassment from managers and informal patients did not feel free to leave the premises.

The group’s spokesman said: “The issues initially raised in the report were quickly addressed with corrective action taken within four weeks and whilst we are disappointed that this work hasn’t been reflected in the final report, we welcome the CQC to return to Schoen Clinic York at any time to allow us to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to delivering the highest possible standards of quality patient care.

“We will closely monitor the ongoing improvements within our York service to ensure our group benchmark of a good or outstanding CQC rating is reached at the earliest possible opportunity.

“We remain completely committed to our patients and delivering the exceptional level of clinical care the Schoen Clinic Group are widely known for.”