- NHS hospital
Torbay Hospital
Assessment report published 29 May 2025
Contents
Ratings - Services for children & young people
Our view of the service
Date of assessment 13 August to 18 December 2024. We carried out a responsive assessment of children and young peoples services at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust. Our assessment was in response to concerns regarding children and young people with mental health needs being cared for in an unsuitable setting. This was due to a lack of suitable placements and care packages in the community and mental health inpatient setting. At this assessment we focused on children and young people who were receiving treatment for eating disorders associated with a mental health condition. We reviewed evidence categories in the 2 key questions safe and caring. There was no provision in Devon for children and young people with eating disorders who required nasogastric tube feeding and, due to a lack of suitable facilities elsewhere, the acute setting was the best setting for a child and young person who did not want to be treated out of area. Following our site visit, we rated safe requires improvement and caring good. We found the service worked with people and partners to ensure safety was managed and monitored. However, we found 2 breaches of the legal regulation. We found some staff felt they did not have the necessary mental health training to meet the needs of children and young people with mental health disorders and the service was short of nursing staff who had a paediatric qualification. Care plans were not always fully completed. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
People we spoke with during the assessment stated they were treated with dignity and respect. One carer stated “The staff are fantastic. They are so kind and caring. They treat my daughter with such compassion even though she can be a challenge. Sometimes they are too kind and I end up in tears as I often do these days when someone is kind to me”. Patients and family members stated it was easy to approach staff to ask questions and they knew how to raise a concern. However, some family members felt they could be asked for their views and opinions and input more into the care of their child. Feedback received from a partner organisation responsible for collating feedback on patient care was mixed with some positive comments such as staff “made me feel heard and safe. I felt my child was being properly looked after at the Louisa Cary ward” and other more negative comments such as staff were busy and “no-one ever came to help”.