Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and East London NHS Foundation Trust have become the first two NHS mental health trusts in England to be awarded overall ratings of outstanding, as detailed in inspection reports published today (Thursday 1 September).
Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (lead for mental health) at the Care Quality Commission, said:
“It is great news that we have been able to rate the first two mental health trusts in England as providing ’outstanding’ care for the communities and patients that they serve – a combined population of well over two million.
“The bar for ‘outstanding’ is a high one and we were very impressed with what we witnessed during our inspections of both of these trusts. The common factor that links these two trusts is the quality and the style of leadership. Both have an open culture in which the senior leadership team really value their front line staff. The leaders of these trusts see their role as being to enable the clinical teams to deliver the best possible care to patients. This involves devolving and delegating responsibility, encouraging innovation and supporting continuous improvement.
“We hope that other providers will learn from these two outstanding trusts and that Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and East London will serve as models for what ‘outstanding’ mental healthcare looks like.”
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The common factor that links these two trusts is the quality and the style of leadership.
Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals