Chief Inspector of Hospitals publishes report on 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Published: 2 February 2016 Page last updated: 12 May 2022
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England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals has told 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust that it must make improvements following its first comprehensive inspection; by the Care Quality Commission in July and August 2015.

5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Requires Improvement overall. The trust was rated as Good for providing services that were caring, effective and responsive, and rated as Requires Improvement for providing safe and well-led services.

Full reports including ratings for all core services are available on this website.

5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of mental health services and learning disability services across the boroughs of Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan to a population of 938,000. It also provides community health services within the borough of Knowsley.

Inspectors found good practice and areas where improvement was required. In the year 2014/15, working in association with Merseyside Police, no one had been taken into police custody on section 136 Mental Health Act detention.

Dr Paul Lelliott, the Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and CQC lead for mental health), said:

“We found that the quality of the services provided by 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust was mixed.

“Some of the shortcomings in the way the trust managed medicines was attributable to the lack of basic training. In other areas - the Chesterton, Low Secure In-Patient Unit, Auden Forensic Support Service Unit and the Tennyson Step-Down Unit – inspectors found that risk assessments were inadequate.

“The trust was doing some things very well. The trust had a high level of incident reporting, demonstrating transparency. Inspectors also found that there was enough staff and that there were effective safeguarding strategies in place. Overall we rated nine out of ten of the core services as good and the forensic service rated as requires improvement.

“I was encouraged by the passionate culture which exists among staff within the trust and pleased to note that the trust was working hard to reduce the stigma of mental health within the community. It is fair to acknowledge some of the positive areas of performance, there is though scope for improvement and CQC will be working closely with the organisation to agree an action plan to help them improve their standards of care.”

The inspection identified a number of areas where the trust must improve including:

  • On the acute and Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit the trust must ensure that the blind spot in the seclusion room in Taylor ward is dealt with and that there is access to toilet and washing facilities for patients that are secluded.
  • In forensic/low secure service the trust must ensure that patient records are complete and accurate and supporting management plans are in place where required. This includes risk assessments, care plans and discharge plans.
  • During the inspection the CQC identified concerns with the monitoring of controlled drugs prescribed to patients in the final days of their life. The trust immediately looked into this and identified that more training and better recording was required. The trust took this action immediately and has provided CQC with assurance that these concerns have been addressed.

The inspection team found several areas of good practice, including:

  • The teaching staff in Child and adolescent mental health wards had developed a “Dragons Den” forum at which patients could bid for money for projects. The initial amount of money allocated was £50. Projects included making cakes, cards, candles, and chocolate.
  • On the forensic/secure wards the service developed and delivered positive communication and empowerment sessions to patients following concerns about the level of hate- related incidents on the wards. The programme had been developed with the trust’s equality and diversity lead and patients and aimed to raise awareness of diversity and inclusion.

The Care Quality Commission has already presented its findings to a local quality summit, including NHS commissioners, providers, regulators and other public bodies. The purpose of the quality summit is to develop a plan of action and recommendations based on the inspection team's findings.

Ends

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I was encouraged by the passionate culture which exists among staff.

Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.