Archived: Trust Headquarters

We spoke with 12 people who used the service and one carer. We spoke with 14 staff who worked in differing roles in the HTT and OOH. We, together with the Mental Health Act Commissioners, gathered information or spoke with advocacy groups such as Support Empower Advocate Patients (SEAP) and Patients Advisory Liaison Service (PALS) to gain their feedback on the service.

People's views and experiences were taken into account in the way the service was provided and delivered in relation to their care. The majority of people we spoke with during the inspection were positive about the care they received. People were also complimentary regarding the staff who worked with them, for example, they said they were 'brilliant', 'helpful', 'they [the staff] listened and didn't make judgements' and 'I can't praise them enough.'

People told us they felt they were cared for by staff that were supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard. The majority of people felt involved in the development and review of their care plan. They told us their care plan reflected the assistance and support they needed.

We spoke to 14 staff who worked in the HTT and OOH service. They felt that since the previous inspection positive changes had been made to the service. For example, they were receiving updated training, and a pamphlet had been introduced to clarify to members of the public and professionals what assistance and support the HTT and OOH service could provide. This pamphlet also signposted people to other agencies for additional support.

Concern was highlighted by staff and people who used the service that the OOH service was at times not staffed sufficiently. People who used the service told us that at times the OOH staff were not available to receive phone calls when they were in crisis. Staff confirmed they were not available to answer calls when they were undertaking Mental Health Act assessments in the community. The trust had submitted a business case to commissioners requesting further funding to be approved so that the OOH service could be staffed appropriately at all times.

In addition staff raised concerns regarding the lack of bed availability in Cornwall. The trust had submitted a business case to request funding for additional local beds to be available in the Cornwall area. Our evidence from this inspection supported that at times there were insufficient staffing levels to provide a fully functioning OOH service and that bed availability remained a concern.

People who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

We spoke with a total of 101 people who used the services. These conversations occurred either face to face, by phone or via e mail contact.

We spoke both with staff at all these locations who worked in differing roles and spoke to staff from the Home Treatment Team and the Assertive Outreach team. We, together with the Mental Health Act Commissioners, spoke with the ambulance service, the police, Serco (the out of hours GPs service), and commissioners of mental health services to gain their views on the adult community services provided by the trust. We spoke with advocacy groups such as SEAP and Healthwatch to gain their feedback on the service.

People's views and experiences were taken into account in the way the service was provided and delivered in relation to their care. The majority of people we spoke with, during the inspection, were positive about the care they received. People were also complimentary regarding the staff who worked with them, for example they said 'Fantastic 'absolutely amazing'I do not know what I would have done without them.'

Thirty eight people raised concerns regarding the mental health services they received, these included: people felt some staff could be rude or dismissive towards them, they were not receiving a timely initial assessment, they were not receiving information regarding their treatment, issues regarding transport costs, confidentiality issues, difficulties contacting staff in a crisis situation and not receiving an appropriate response, difficulty in accessing services, lack of post discharge support, transition from childrens to adults services was too late. We were also told by people who used mental health and learning disability services that bed availability was lacking which led to people being placed outside of Cornwall and the associated travel costs to visit relatives was then also a difficulty. Therefore people did not always experience care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights.

People were cared for by staff who were supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard. The majority of people felt involved in the development and review of their care plan. They told us that the care plan reflected the assistance and support they needed.

People who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.