England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has upgraded the overall rating of Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust from Requires Improvement to Good following an inspection in November.
During this inspection, the team looked at a number of specific areas where the trust had been rated as Requires Improvement during a comprehensive inspection in 2014.
The full reports including ratings for the provider’s core services are available on our website.
CQC's Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health), Dr Paul Lelliott said:
“Following our original inspection in 2014, we asked Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust to make changes to improve the consistency of care it provided across a number of services. Although there were pockets of outstanding care, we also found areas where improvements were needed."
“It is clear that the trust has acted on the findings of our initial inspection and this is reflected in the improved quality of care we found this time round."
“We came across many examples where patient experience have improved, and services are much more responsive to the needs of people using them."
“We saw excellent patient and public involvement at the trust and there was a real commitment to social inclusion. For example, they are a host organisation for an employment scheme for adults with mental health problems, learning disabilities and complex needs, and made sure those employed at the trust earned the living wage."
“We were impressed with the improvements we saw, and the staff at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust should be pleased with their enhanced rating."
“However there are further improvements that must be made to improve safety across most services at the trust and in particular, to some of the ward environments.”
Inspectors identified a number of areas where the trust had made improvements:
- The community learning disability service have introduced a four-week appointment system; alongside the clinical assessment and review meeting each week. This had ensured that staff were properly deployed and waiting times for patients were reduced.
- The trust have worked with Primary Care Sheffield to deliver consistent and improved access seven days a week, evening and weekend access to liaison, perinatal and older people’s home treatment through a single point of access as part of the Prime Ministers Challenge Fund.
- The trust has developed a resource pack for mental health workers to help them to better support and involve carers and young carers.
- The trust was not commissioned to provide child and adolescent mental health services. However, it had provided, on a temporary basis, section 136 facilities for children and young people, which contractually they did not have to do. This has helped to reduce the number of children being taken into custody cells under section 136 of the Mental Health Act. The trust was working collaboratively with Sheffield Children’s Hospital Trust to purpose build section 136 suites for children. This is an example of where the trust has actively sought to put the needs of the patient at the forefront of provision, despite not being the commissioned provider of a service.
Areas where the trust must make improvements:
- The trust must ensure that it complies with guidance on same sex accommodation in all of its inpatient services.
- The trust must ensure that all areas used for patient care in the rehabilitation service are clean.
- The trust must ensure the service can deal efficiently with the volume of daily telephone calls received to the substance misuse service. Clients and other professionals must be able to contact the service with the minimum of delays.
- The trust must ensure that staff working in the mental health crisis service, are suitably trained to help ensure they have the necessary skills, knowledge and competence to deliver safe care. Staff must have regular supervisions to help identify and address any support needs.
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Officer Kerri James by email kerri.james@cqc.org.uk or by phone on 07464 92 9966.
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We were impressed with the improvements we saw, and the staff at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust should be pleased with their enhanced rating.
CQC's Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health), Dr Paul Lelliott