A PRIVATE psychiatric hospital in a Hampshire village has had its rating upgraded by care industry watchdogs after making a raft of changes.

In 2015 the Priory Hospital in Marchwood was described as “requiring improvement” following an inspection carried out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates the sector.

A CQC report said inspectors identified “multiple ligature points” – handles and other objects that could be used by patients intent on self-harm.

But the hospital has now received an overall rating of “good” after a follow-up visit by inspectors.

The latest CQC report says the provider – Priory Healthcare Ltd – has taken appropriate steps to ensure the safety of patients.

Listing the inspectors’ other findings it adds: “Sufficient numbers of staff of the right grades and experience were generally available to meet the needs of patients.”

The report says staff observed by the CQC inspectors were “sincere and caring” in the way they interacted with patients.

“Although morale had been affected by changes that had taken place at the hospital in recent months, most of the staff we spoke with told us they were happy to be working at the hospital and that morale was improving.“However, we also found a number of areas where the provider could make further improvements.“Some staff told us they did not always feel sufficiently trained or prepared to support the high and complex needs of some of the patients. Similarly, a number of patients told us that they felt the care and support delivered by agency staff was not always to the standard provided by the hospital’s permanent staff.“Although we found improvement since our previous inspection, there remained some variance in quality of care records across the three wards.”