The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report on the community-based mental health services for adults of working age at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.
CQC carried out an unannounced focused inspection in December after receiving information of concern regarding the quality and safety of the Wiltshire and Swindon community mental health services and two of the trust’s specialist perinatal (pregnancy related) services. This included information provided by patients and as well as details contained within serious incident reports submitted to CQC by the trust.
As this was a focused inspection, CQC only looked at whether the service was safe. Consequently, the service was not re-rated, so the previous rating of Good overall remains. The overall rating for the trust is Requires Improvement.
Inspectors found that staff worked well together and managed patient safety incidents well. Patients were supported during a mental health crisis with access to specialist help. When things went wrong, lessons were shared with the wider service and action plans developed. The service had also established effective infection prevention control processes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, risk assessment tools and risk management plans were not always updated in response to new or challenging risks. CQC told the trust that it must take action to remedy this. It should also address staff vacancies which were putting some teams under increased pressure.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on the CQC website here.
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