England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated the services provided by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust as Good following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
CQC inspectors conducted a comprehensive inspection of the trust between 12 June and 25 July, looking specifically at six of the trust’s core services. Inspectors also reviewed the management and leadership of the trust to answer the question: Is the trust well-led?
The ratings for effective, caring, responsive and well-led all remain at Good. The rating for safety remains Requires Improvement.
Full details of the ratings, including a ratings grid, are given in the report published online at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RX3
CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector, and lead on Mental Health, Dr Paul Lelliott, said:
“Overall, we have found the services provided by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust to be Good. The leadership team are clearly using their experience and knowledge effectively in support of staff, who have worked hard to provide quality care.
“However, we have again rated the trust Requires Improvement for the key question ‘are services safe?’. In particular, we concluded that the trust could do more to improve the safety of some of their mental health wards. The inspection identified areas for improvement particularly with safety of the environment of some wards. This problem was compounded by a shortage of nursing staff on some wards. The trust must act to ensure that patients are safely cared for. Inspectors also reported that clinical supervision was not well recorded and quality audits were sometimes ineffective in both identifying and correcting concerns. We will continue to monitor the progress the trust makes, and reinspect its services in the future.”
Inspectors saw several areas of outstanding practice including the way the trust managed patient waiting times when trying to access psychological therapies. Additionally, the trust supported staff across its services to deliver creative and innovative patient care, and their involvement in projects to improve the services.
Ends
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