A MENTAL health hospital in North Yorkshire has been praised for the support provided to service users with inspectors highlighting the “outstanding” caring nature of its staff.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on Cygnet Hospital Harrogate praised the high standard of care offered at the service and highlighted many areas of positive practice, saying the hospital had embedded a “person-centred” culture.

The service, located in Ripon Road, is part of the Cygnet Health Care division and offers a care service for men and women suffering with acute mental health.

The inspection, which took place in August, looked at all key lines of enquiry - safe, caring, responsive, well led and effective. The service was awarded a Good rating overall, with Outstanding in the caring domain.

Hospital manager, Gavin Clark, said: “We're all absolutely delighted with a 'Good' overall from the recent inspection but to get an outstanding in the caring domain was the cherry on top.

“That the report recognises the contribution of multiple departments in this - and not just clinical teams - felt a real validation of the entire staff group’s efforts.

"I feel so proud of everyone and would like to thank all of my staff for their hard work and dedication towards providing high-quality, compassionate care.”

As part of the inspection, the CQC spoke with service users and their loved ones, as well as staff. Feedback from patients about the care they received was consistently good and exceeded their expectations.

Patients who spoke to inspectors said this was the best hospital they had been to and that all staff including housekeepers and catering staff contributed to a positive inpatient stay. The latest patient satisfaction survey data indicated that 96 per cent of patients said staff were caring and supportive.

Families and carers said they were happy with the care and treatment their loved one received. They said they felt involved in the patient’s care.

The leadership of the service was also celebrated throughout the report, with inspectors saying the hospital had "positive and proactive" leaders.

The CQC inspection team said the hospital offered numerous training courses for staff which included autism awareness, epilepsy awareness, diabetes awareness, deaf awareness, working with personality disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The report added that staff received training to give them the necessary knowledge and skills and that the service had a full range of specialists to meet the needs of the patients. Managers supported staff with appraisals, supervision and opportunities to update and further develop their skills.

It applauded the teamwork at the hospital, stating “staff from different disciplines worked together as a team to benefit patients. They supported each other to make sure patients had no gaps in their care.”

The report also highlighted that the ward environments were safe and clean and that staff assessed and managed risk well.