England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has told South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust that it must make improvements to services following its latest unannounced inspection.
A team of inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited the trust in March and April 2018 to check the quality of six core services: acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units; forensic inpatient or secure wards, wards for people with a learning disability or autism; community-based mental health services for adults of working age; specialist community mental health services for children and young people and community mental health services for people with a learning disability or autism.CQC also looked specifically at management and leadership to answer the key question: Is the trust well led?
As a result ofthis inspection the trust is now rated as Good for being effective, caring and well led and Requires Improvement for being safe and responsive to people’s needs. Overall the trust is now rated as Requires Improvement.
Inspectors found some inpatient areas did not have call bells so people could not summon assistance if needed. There were some gaps in rotas due to staff shortages affecting staff morale, effective record keeping and waiting times.
Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units have been rated Inadequate for safe. The management of patients in seclusion and restraint records were not always documented appropriately. Some equipment on the ward was not stored safely but inspectors did see staff use an increased level of observation to maintain people’s safety.
In community mental health services for adults of working age, risk assessments were not always reviewed or updated in line with trust policy and staff safety training was low. Long waiting times remained a problem for people trying to access specific individual therapies.
Specialist community mental health services for children and young people are now rated Requires Improvement. Inspectors found there was not an effective approach to managing the premises and some did not always have the appropriate level of security.
Community mental health services for people with a learning disability or autism improved to Good. The trust had worked to ensure the care provided was evidence based and personalised. Following a restructuring of the service, staff involved people in their care decisions and kept care records up to date which helped protect people against avoidable harm and delivered a joined up approach to peoples care continuity.
You can see the latest ratings grids on pages 15, 16 and 17 of the inspection report.
Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals and lead for mental health, Dr Paul Lelliott, said:
“It is disappointing to report that since our last inspection, South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust has been unable to sustain some of the improvements they have made previously. As a result of this, the trust’s overall rating has moved from Good to Requires Improvement.
“I am pleased to note that we did see some outstanding practice and the Trust has a strong and stable leadership team, and an engaged workforce.
“We have now made it clear to the trust where it must take action to improve.Since the inspection the trust has been responding to these safety concerns and making changes to lessen the risks. We will continue to monitor those services and we will return in the near future to check progress.”
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It is disappointing to report that since our last inspection, South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust has been unable to sustain some of the improvements they have made previously
Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health)