Care Quality Commission publishes report rating London mental health trust as Requires Improvement

The Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated West London Mental Health NHS Trust as Requires Improvement overall after an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

The trust is rated Requires Improvement for being safe, effective, responsive and well-led. It was rated Good for being caring following the inspection in November 2016.

CQC has rated nine of the 11 core services it inspected as Requires Improvement and the other two as Good.

There are a number of areas where improvements are needed, these included:

• The trust continued to have a problem with staff recruitment and retention. Since the last comprehensive inspection in June 2015 recruitment had improved but many new staff were leaving within a year. This was having an impact on the care received by patients.
• The trust had made improvements in the assessment, monitoring and treatment of patients’ physical health. This had been implemented well in some areas but others still needed to improve.
• The trust was not always able to provide a bed on an acute ward for patients who had a clinical need for this service.
• Some inpatient environments were of a poor standard.
• The trust had made changes to its governance processes but further work was needed.

Jane Ray, CQC’s Head of Hospital Inspections (Mental Health), said: “The inspection took place at a time when the trust was going through considerable strategic change. It was in the process of transforming its adult inpatient services to reduce the number of people needing inpatient beds. This involved increasing services in the community.

“Since the previous inspection the trust had created a single point of access, enhanced assessment and treatment teams and a new primary care mental health service.

“The trust was also working to improve existing care and the processes that support this. We were able to see many areas of improvement however, there was more to do and the changes needed to be embedded and sustained.

“There had been a number of changes in the leadership of the trust. The new chief executive was received positively across the trust. The senior leadership team at the time of the inspection was capable and had the potential to make the necessary improvements, although there was a great deal to be done.

“We will be working with the trust to agree an action plan to assist them in improving the standards of care and treatment.”

The trust had made progress in many areas since CQC’s previous inspection:

• Staff morale was greatly improved. Staff talked about how the culture of the organisation had changed and most people felt this was now much more open.
• More incidents were being reported and the trust had promoted a culture where staff understood the importance of doing this.
• Work with other agencies and partners had progressed and the trust was working closely with commissioners.

Ends

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