England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has once again rated the services provided by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust as Outstanding, following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
A team of inspectors visited Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust in April and May. It was rated Good for safety, and Outstanding for caring, effectiveness, responsiveness and well-led. Overall, the trust rating has remained Outstanding - the same rating that it achieved when it was last inspected, in June 2016.
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest mental health and disability Trusts in England employing over 6,000 staff, serving a population of approximately 1.4 million. It also provides a range of community health services.
For safety, inspectors rated 14 of the 15 core services as Good and one as Requires Improvement. The rating of safety had improved from requires improvement to good in child and adolescent mental health wards, but the rating had gone down in the safe domain from good to requires improvement in acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units.
The organisation improved its rating for caring, moving from Good to Outstanding. Feedback from patients was consistently good, people said care exceeded expectations. The trust ratings for being responsiveness and effective remained at Outstanding. Patients had access to a range of activities, including during evenings and weekends – and with child and adolescent mental health wards, patients had good access to education provision. The trust was working with commissioners and staff to design specialist community-based services to ensure the right care and treatment could be provided in the community and to prevent hospital admissions.
During the well led inspection, it was noted that the trust had carried out a significant organisational restructure in October 2017, and engaged extensively with staff during this time, introducing cohesive new structures and governance arrangements.
The quality of performance data was outstanding. Staff at all levels had access to a wide range of data which was used to actively inform and shape how services were delivered and how care was provided. Inspectors noted that there was evidence of significant positive impact on patients as a result.
CQC found some areas of outstanding practice, including:
- On the Acute wards for adults of work age and psychiatric intensive care units the occupational therapy department covering the four wards at Hopewood Park (Beckfield, Longview, Springrise, and Shoredrift) had introduced a social inclusion programme which was designed to support patients to access services and activities in the community.
- On wards for older people with mental health problems there had been an integration of pharmacy services on to the wards that meant that staff could respond quickly to any issues around medication. In one instance a patient’s medication needed to be changed to liquid rather than tablet and the pharmacist was able to change the prescription quickly
- Within specialist community mental health services for children and young people the service employed staff as care practitioners, giving managers the flexibility to recruit staff based on the needs of the service and the local population. Staff were trained in a wide range of therapeutic interventions recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
The Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and Lead for Mental Health), Dr Paul Lelliott, said:
“Once again we have found the quality of services delivered by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust to be Outstanding.
“We have found many examples of excellent care – including for instance the range of activities for people such as a gardening project at a local church, or model- making as part of preparation for Sunderland’s 2018 Tall Ships Race. The social inclusion programme is an example of work which improved patient wellbeing and reduced the social stigma of mental ill-health.
“It is clear that the trust leadership had a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by the trust and, importantly, strive to continually review and improve services. The feedback from service users and stakeholders shows that they are succeeding, and I congratulate everyone at the trust on retaining their Outstanding rating.
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For further information, please contact David Fryer, Regional Communications Manager - North, on 07754 438750 or CQC Regional Engagement Officer Mark Humphreys on 0191 201 1675.
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Once again we have found the quality of services delivered by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust to be Outstanding
Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health)