CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals asks people to tell him about the care provided by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

29 May 2014

England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals is urging people to tell his inspectors what they think of the services provided by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.  Their views and experiences will help inspectors decide what to look at when they inspect.

Avon and Wiltshire is one of the first mental health trusts to be inspected under radical changes being introduced by the Care Quality Commission. The formal inspection by a team of 70 people including clinical experts and people who have experience of using mental health services, will start on Monday 9 June.

Over the course of a week, the inspection team will be visiting every hospital ward managed by the trust in Bristol, Bath, Devizes, Swindon, Salisbury and Weston super Mare, as well as many of the 152 community services.

The Chief Inspector, Professor Sir Mike Richards, announced in November that CQC is taking a new approach to put a greater emphasis on inspecting the care that people with mental health problems receive in the community at the same time as inspecting services for people who are admitted to hospital for assessment or treatment.

To ensure the views of the whole local community are properly represented, the inspectors are appealing to people to contact CQC either by telephone, email or online.

Sir Mike said:

"The new inspections are designed to provide us with a clear picture of the quality of the services, exposing poor or mediocre care as well as highlighting those trusts providing good and excellent care.

"The needs of people with mental health problems run through all CQC’s work. We have recognised that we need to strengthen our approach to regulating specialist mental health services to ensure that people get care that is safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well led.

"Of course we will be talking to doctors and nurses, managers and people who use services in hospitals and in the community. But it is vital that we also hear the views of the people who have had experience of the care provided by the Avon and Wiltshire Partnership, or anyone who wants to share information with us, to help us plan our inspection, and so focus on those things that really matter to people who depend on this service.

“This is your opportunity to tell me and my team what you think, and to make a difference to the NHS services in this area”

Anyone wishing to give their views to the inspection team can do this in a number of ways:

• Online: www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us
• By email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
• By letter: CQC, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA
• By phone: 03000 61 61 61

"Sir Mike’s inspection team will look in detail at a full range of services including acute admission wards for all age groups, psychiatric intensive care units and health-based places of safety, long stay forensic secure services, services for older people, community services for people with learning disabilities or autism, adult community-based services including crisis services, and specialist eating disorder services.

A full report of the inspectors’ findings will be published by the Care Quality Commission.

Ends

For media enquiries, contact the CQC press office on 020 7448 9401 / media.team@cqc.org.uk during office hours or out of hours on 07917 232 143.

For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61.