BIRMINGHAM and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust remains requires improvement following the latest Care Qualify Commission (CQC) inspection.
Inspectors visited five mental health services at the trust: acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units, mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety, rehabilitation services, wards for older people with mental health problems and forensic inpatient or secure wards.
Following this inspection, CQC issued a warning notice to the trust to make the necessary improvements to keep people safe due to concerns found within the acute wards for adults of working age.
Lorraine Tedeschini, CQC director of operations in the Midlands, said: “Understaffing was a big concern, and while many NHS services and those in the wider care sector face staffing challenges, the trust must find ways to minimise the risk this poses to people in its care.
“We found some shifts where there weren’t enough qualified nurses on duty, as well as low levels of staff supervision across some services meaning staff weren’t getting the appropriate support to deliver safe care.
“However, since our last inspection the trust has appointed a new chief executive and a new board has been formed which is developing a clear strategy and vision, with leaders who are passionate about positive change and improvement.
Inspectors also raises concerns around patient access to support from occupational therapists, lack of activities available for patients and lack of staff training.
However they found taff followed best practice in anticipating, de-escalating, and managing challenging behaviour and managed discharge well; planning this from an early stage and making clear plans with patients.
Visit https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RXT to read the full report.
