13 April 2011
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust that it must take action to address a series of concerns over quality and safety.
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides local specialist care for people with ongoing or complex mental health issues, substance misuse issues and some learning disabilities. The trust is registered to provide services at seven locations across Berkshire and one in Oxfordshire.
CQC carried out a planned review of Charles Ward in St Mark's Hospital Maidenhead in December 2010. Charles Ward at St Mark's Hospital provides a service (23 beds) to adults over the age of 75 in East Berkshire, with either a diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of a mental health condition or problem.
For four of the essential standards we were not satisfied that Charles Ward at St Mark's Hospital was compliant. We noted two areas of particular concern where Charles Ward was not compliant with essential standards.
- Assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision
- Notification of other incidents
As a result of concerns raised in this review, CQC also then carried out a review of the trust as a whole over concerns identified for the same four essential standards. We found that the trust had considerable delays in notifying the authorities about incidents, and we demanded that urgent action be taken.
Following a further review to check what action the trust had taken, we found that the trust had made the improvements we required.
We have asked the trust to send us a report within 14 days, in relation to the other essential standards not being met, setting out the action they will take to ensure compliance. We will check to make sure that the improvements have been made.
CQC regional director for the South East, Roxy Boyce, said: “The trust must ensure that all its services are meeting essential standards of quality and safety. These are the standards of care anyone should be able to expect in any hospital and we will hold the trust to account if it continues to fail to meet them. We will continue to monitor the trust closely in relation to other areas of care.”
Ends
For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9239 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
About the CQC: Snippet for press releases
About the Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.
We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.
We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.
Read the report
Read the reports from our checks on standards at St Mark's Hospital.