13 May 2014
The Care Quality Commission has formally warned Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust that it needs to improve the care it provides to people using its mental health community services.
CQC has told the trust to make urgent improvements following an inspection in March at which it was found to be failing to meet the national standards relating to medicines management (for which a formal warning was issued) and supporting workers.
The inspection was carried out to check whether improvements required at a previous inspection had been made. A full report from this inspection has been published on the CQC website today.
Inspectors found that there were ongoing issues with the way that medicines were managed by crisis teams, despite these issues having been identified at a previous CQC inspection and reported to the trust at that time.
Some actions identified by the trust in their action plan to improve medicines management after that inspection had not been completed. This included providing training for non-nursing staff who supervised medicines. Actions identified in internal audits had also not been completed.
Inspectors found that there were gaps in medication records meaning that there was no evidence that people had received some doses of their prescribed medicines. This may have placed people at risk. The trust was not following policies it had in place regarding management of medicines.
Inspectors also found that staff had not been sufficiently supported by the trust during a recent team reorganisation, as they had not received regular professional supervision or specific training in relation to their roles.
Most people inspectors spoke to were positive about the support they had received from the crisis teams, although some said that their visits had either not taken place at the expected time or had been cancelled.
Jane Ray, Head of Hospital Inspections for Mental Health in London, said:
"We were disappointed to find when we returned that some actions the trust had told us they would take to improve medicines management after our previous inspection had not been completed. This sustained failure to meet the required standard is why we have issued them with a formal warning.
“Patients are entitled to be treated in services which are safe, effective, caring, well run, and responsive to their needs. Our inspectors will return unannounced in the near future to check that the required changes have been made.”
Ends
For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9239 or out of hours on 07917 232143.
Find out more
Read the reports from our checks on standards at Trust Headquarters.