Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

This means we looked for evidence that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence.

At our last assessment we rated this key question Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good.

This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

We reviewed 6 care records as part of our inspection. Staff completed a comprehensive assessment of patients mental and physical health needs following admission.

Staff developed care plans that met the patients’ needs identified during their assessment and care plans were personalised, holistic and recovery focussed.

Care plans included mental and physical health, accommodation and employment needs, family and relationships, and leisure activities. Staff clearly recorded patient’s views and wishes within care plans. Staff updated care plans regularly.

Staff assessed patients’ physical health needs in a timely manner after admission and completed weekly physical health monitoring. Physical health needs were included in risk assessments and care plans.

The provider always planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation. They worked to develop evidence-based good practice and standards.

Staff provided a range of care and treatment interventions suitable for the patient group. The interventions were those recommended by, and were delivered in line with, guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

The service provided some activities and opportunities to help patients acquire living skills. Occupational therapists completed assessments of patient’s vocational needs, and the service gave examples of patients who had completed qualifications and gained work experience completing voluntary work to help prepare them for employment in the community.

The ward had a timetable of structured activities for patients including psychology groups and 1-1’s, art therapy and music therapy sessions. The service employed a peer support worker who chaired peer support groups and a women’s group, as well as providing 1-1 support. Patients who had section 17 leave could also access community groups including a walking group and local shopping.

The service had recently introduced some sensory equipment that the occupational therapist was delivering taster sessions to staff and patients on how to use the equipment.

The service was recruiting for an activity co-ordinator role after the staff member had left. This role had previously included helping patients to access to the ward gym and organise groups and activities.

However, patients told us that there were not enough activities to keep them occupied throughout the day, and nothing offered in evenings and weekends. Patients told us they were bored and doing nothing most days.

Staff ensured that patients had good access to physical healthcare, including access to specialists when needed. The service employed specialist doctors and junior doctors on rotation and had a contracted G.P. who visited weekly.

Staff assessed and met patients’ needs for food and drink, and patients at risk of choking had a dysphagia assessment and food and fluid monitoring in place.

Staff participated in clinical audit, benchmarking and quality improvement initiatives. Staff participated in both local and national clinical audit. These included physical health monitoring of patients on antipsychotic medicines; restrictive practice audit; and triangle of care audit.

The team included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients in the service including doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, and peer support workers.

Staff worked effectively across teams and services to support people, by sharing their assessment of needs when they moved between different services.

Staff came together to discuss patients and held regular multidisciplinary meetings.

Staff shared information about patients at effective handover meetings within the team. We observed a handover meeting between shifts and saw that staff discussed all patients including what activities they had taken part in and how they had slept, how they had engaged with staff and other patients, and any updated risks.

The service had recently implemented a new system of reviewing patient’s electronic care records during handover. This meant that staff could review information from physical observations, case notes and clinical reviews during handover meetings to give a full overview of each patient.

The teams had effective working relationships, including good handovers, with other relevant teams within the organisation. They worked closely with the community forensic team and inpatient wards who provided support to patients with step down beds.

Staff had effective working relationships with teams outside the organisation including the provider collaborative, Ministry of Justice, National Probation Service, and local drug and alcohol team.

The trust were part of the provider collaborative for secure services, working closely with multiple providers. This meant that admissions, discharges and length of stay were agreed by the provider collaborative, as well as providing increased opportunity for learning and improvement.

The service had strong links with partnership organisations including a supported accommodation provider who specialised in providing a step-down service to bridge the gap between secure services and independent living, and the local drug and alcohol team.

The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

Staff supported patients to live healthier lives and included physical health needs in care plans. These included access to drug and alcohol support and food and fluid intake.

The service had worked with patients to co-produce a standard operating procedure on the use of e-cigarettes and vapes on the ward, and to support smoking cessation as part of the smoke free policy.

The service had a small gym room located on the ward that had been used until recently with a designated health and activities assistant. The service was recruiting to the post to reinstate patient access to the gym equipment. Staff held a weekly walking group for patients with section 17 leave.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.