CQC publishes reports on mental health services at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published two reports following an unannounced focused inspection of The Harbour in Preston, which is run by Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.

Inspectors visited the Harbour in April following concerns received about the safety and quality of the service being provided.

CQC inspected four wards for older people with mental health problems: Austen, Dickens, Bronte, and Wordsworth. Following this inspection, the rating dropped from good to requires improvement overall. It was rated requires improvement for being safe and well led with caring, effective and responsive remaining good from the previous inspection.

Inspectors also visited four acute wards for adults of working age and two psychiatric intensive care units (PICU) for adults of a working age: Shakespeare, Stephenson, Churchill, Orwell, Byron and Keats. The service was rated requires improvement for being safe and well led. Caring remains good and effective and responsive remain requires improvement from the previous inspection. Overall the ratings for the acute wards for adults of working age and PICU have improved from inadequate to requires improvement.

Brian Cranna, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for mental health, said:

“When we inspected The Harbour, we found that some improvements had been made on acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care since we last checked. However, we were disappointed to find a number of issues within the wards for older people with mental health problems.

“Patients told us that they did feel safe on the wards however, due to the staffing levels there were sometimes delays in staff responding to their requests for support or personal care. Also, staff could not always facilitate escorted leave, planned activities or regular one to one sessions.

“We were pleased to see that staff generally assessed and managed risk well. They minimised the use of restrictive practices, managed medicines safely and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.

“The trust has continued to make some improvements, and we will continue to work closely with them to ensure they have made further changes, including recruiting more staff to ensure patients receive the best possible care.”

In both services, inspectors found:

• Staffing pressures meant that supervision and team meetings did not happen as regularly as scheduled
• Staff morale was low. Not all staff felt respected, supported or valued. Staff morale was impacted by staffing pressures and the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, inspectors also found good practice, including:

• Wards were clean, well equipped, well furnished, well maintained and fit for purpose
• Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment
• Staff understood and discharged their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients.

Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on our website.

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