Cygnet Lodge Brighouse receives specialist reaccreditation

An inspection by the AIMS (Accreditation of Inpatient Mental Health Services), a national project developed to improve the quality of in-patient mental health services across the country, found that patients on Cygnet Lodge Brighouse were treated safely, and with dignity and respect.

Hospital Manager, Clare Heaton said: “AIMS recognition is the equivalent of a Michelin star being awarded to a restaurant. We are proud to have been able to retain our accreditation as we were the first ever independent mental health service in the country to achieve this back in 2011 and we have worked hard to maintain our high standards over many years.”

The hospital was awarded their AIMS rehabilitation reaccreditation from the Royal College of Psychiatrists after a recent review found the service met 92.5% of the 240 standards it measures against.

As part of the accreditation process, a peer review team interviewed carers and services users at Cygnet Lodge Brighouse, and reported that having a ‘buddy’ to guide them through the admissions process, and complementary therapies like the use of PAT dogs were among the services that gave them a high level of confidence in the care at the hospital in Rastrick Common.

The AIMS approach is a well-recognised, rigorous and supportive quality assurance and accreditation process for mental health services. AIMS assesses standards of care, current facilities, standards of documentation and health records, environmental facilities, and the quality of staff.

Hospital Manager, Clare Heaton said she was delighted by the AIMS reaccreditation.

“I am so proud of all the team at Cygnet Lodge Brighouse for achieving AIMS re-accreditation. The staff team, service users and their families all worked well together to achieve this, and we couldn’t be happier for our service”