Updated 22 June 2018
We rated this service as good overall because:
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Young people and families said staff were skilled at engaging with people of different ages and approached care in a collaborative and supportive way. All their feedback to us was extremely positive.
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There were no waiting lists and people were seen at the service quickly.
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Patient participation was excellent and 35 young people and parent champions were currently involved in a wide range of projects that contributed to service development and improvement. This included sitting on research and staff interview panels, developing information and tools for other patients and providing key feedback and opinions about service changes. The champions we spoke with felt their role was valued and their contributions were taken seriously. The service had involved champions in the inspection and demonstrated their support of this position through having two staff members who were employed as participation workers. The service were constantly thinking of ways to enhance their work with champions and had plans to recruit a total of 60 in the next 12 months.
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The service contributed to innovation and ongoing research and development in care and treatment for young people with mental health issues and used nationally recognised rating scales to monitor and review the evidence-based interventions they offered. The service actively sought out opportunities to work with other charities and universities in developing resources and research to support young people and families affected by mental health issues.
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The service used technologies to enhance their work and looked for ways to improve patient engagement at all times. For example, in how they collected feedback from patients and using a mobile phone app to keep in touch with young person champions.
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The service supported and encouraged staff development through training and staff said they were very pleased and proud to work for the provider.
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Governance systems allowed senior staff to review and manage the service well. The service had addressed recommendations made in the last inspection. This included strengthening systems for reviewing criminal records checks for all staff, ensuring mandatory training covered all necessary areas, ensuring the CQC were notified of all statutory notifications and providing clear information to young people about external services they could contact in a crisis.