CQC inspectors rate South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as Requires Improvement

England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as Requires Improvement following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

The trust has been rated as Good for providing services that were caring and Requires Improvement for, effectiveness, responsiveness,safety and well-led

Full reports of the inspection in March 2016 are available.

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health services across Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield to a population of more than one million people. The trust provides inpatient, community and day clinics as well as specialist services within West Yorkshire, and also to a wider geographical area in some of their specialist services.

Inspectors found that staffing levels in some of the inpatient areas did not always meet the safer staffing levels set by the trust. This had a detrimental effect on some activities, for example: escorted leave and potentially patient and staff safety. Some patients were also waiting a long time for a service, especially in specialist community mental health services for children and young people and psychology therapy services.

CQC inspectors found good communication between staff and patients and staff treating patients with kindness, dignity, compassion and respect. This was supported by comments from patients who were positive about the care and treatment they received from services.

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

“South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust need to address a number of safety issues. We found that on the inpatient wards for older people with mental health problems and the acute wards for adults of working age there were blind spots where staff were unable to observe patients (blind spots), as well as ligature risks that had not been identified.

“In addition the management of medicines needs attention, in particular monitoring high dose medication.

“We also found a lot of good practice. All the wards and community mental health services we visited had fully equipped clinic rooms with accessible resuscitation equipment and emergency drugs. All inpatient services complied with same sex accommodation guidance for eliminating mixed sex accommodation.

“Overall the caring aspect of the trust’s activities was good. The service was able to show us good communication between staff and patients in all the services, both when they were supporting patients, and when they were avoiding or de-escalating challenging situations.

“However, the trust must focus on the areas for improvement.   We will be working with the trust to agree an action plan which will form the basis and plan for our next follow up inspection when I hope to be able to report improvement”

This report identifies a number of areas where the trust must improve, including:

• The trust must ensure care records are up to date and accessible in order to deliver people’s care and treatment in a way that meets their needs and keeps them safe
• On wards for older people with mental health problems the trust must ensure that there are clear lines of sight on The Poplars, ward 19 WHERE and Chantry Unit.
• The trust must review the door handles on ward 19 to ensure that the premises suit the need of patients.

During the inspection, CQC found some areas of good practice including:

• The attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism service had been involved in several innovations including the development of an assessment and care planning tool for individuals with ADHD. The service had also developed a checklist to ensure environments were appropriate for individuals with autism.
• On acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units patients were able to attend  na‘recovery college’, which works in partnership with volunteers and other supporting organisations to run a range of workshops and courses which promote well-being and good mental health.
• Inspectors were shown a range of ‘cook and eat’ easy read cook books which were designed to help people with a learning disability cook independently and were used within therapy sessions to support people develop confidence and independence. . A member of staff had co-produced the books with a group of patient consultants.

Ends

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