The Care Quality Commission has rated the services provided by Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust as Requires Improvement following an inspection in May and June.
At this latest inspection, the trust was rated Requires Improvement for safe, effective, responsive and well-led and Good for caring. Overall the trust remains at Requires Improvement, no change from their last inspection in 2018.
CQC inspected five core services as part of their continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services which were:
- acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units
- child and adolescent mental health wards
- community-based mental health services for adults of working age
- mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety
- community dental services.
They also looked specifically at management and leadership to answer the key question: Is the trust well led
Full reports on each inspection are available at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RW5
Inspectors had significant concerns about patient safety, privacy and dignity and the functioning of the mental health decision units within the mental health crisis services. The unit designs were not fit for purpose, they were not being used in the way intended and they persistently failed to meet the basic needs of patients.
Staff were detaining patients in the health-based places of safety past the expiry time of the section 136. Patients were subject to restrictive interventions without the appropriate legal safeguards in place. This practice had become routine. This had not improved since the last inspection.
The trust was not providing consistently safe care within the acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units. There were not sufficient numbers of suitably trained staff. Staff were not managing all risks effectively. Staff were not always following the seclusion policy, infection control practices and best practice in relation to medicines management.
Inspectors rated 11 of the trust’s 15 core services as good overall. They rated thirteen of the trust’s core services as good for caring and the dental services as outstanding for caring. The ratings for the child and adolescent ward in all domains had improved to good. The rating for the trust took into account the previous ratings of the core services not inspected this time. In addition, inspectors noted that staff were kind, caring and motivated to provide the best care and treatment they could for patients.
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager David Fryer by email david.fryer@cqc.org.uk by phone on 07754 438750 or Mark Humphreys,mark.humphreys@cqc.org.uk and 0191 201 1675
Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here.
Please note: the press office is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters. For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.