Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

At our last inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection the rating has remained good.

Good: This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care. Staff at all levels behaved in a professional and compassionate manner and displayed non-judgemental and caring attitudes towards people who used care, carers, colleagues and partners. People were empowered to make choices about their care and treatment. People were treated as individuals. Staff were aware of the importance of meeting people’s individual needs and accommodated these.

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 service treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. They treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Senior leaders and staff at all levels spoke respectfully and with compassion about people who used services. We observed care and treatment being provided and all staff were polite, professional and friendly in their interactions. During appointments where carers were present, staff offered people who used services the opportunity to talk privately if they wished. Staff were kind, caring and responsive during interactions with people and made sure they had the time to say everything they wanted to without being rushed.

We spoke to 16 people who used services and 7 carers. People said they felt supported and respected by staff in the adult community mental health service. They said they felt involved in making decisions about their care. One carer reported that staff explained things properly to them, in a way that had never been done before in other services.

Feedback to the adult community mental health service from people who used services and carers between 1 April 2024 and 14 May 2025 was mainly positive about staff. Across the community mental health teams (CMHTs), assertive outreach and psychosis early intervention and recovery (PIER) team, around 75% of feedback about staff attitude was positive. The CMHTs and assertive outreach team each received around 65% positive feedback about staff attitude, and in the PIER team this figure was around 81%.

In the CQC 2024 Adult Community Mental Health Survey, most feedback on interactions with staff was positive. When asked if there was anything particularly good about their care, some people named specific members of staff or teams. Most people described staff as “great”, “kind”, and “supportive” and that they treated people with respect.

Staff, managers and senior leaders we interviewed spoke passionately about their roles and the impact they hoped to have on people who used services. They told us they were enthusiastic and motivated to make a difference to people’s lives. Most of them told us they felt it was a privilege to get to work so closely with people and their families, and to help improve their futures.

We observed staff at all levels and senior leaders speaking to each other with kindness and respect during team meetings and multi-agency meetings.

The assertive outreach team had created their own ‘food bank’, paid for by the fundraising activities of staff members. The food bank contained essential items for people who used services so that staff could provide them when people were struggling and needed urgent assistance. Consideration had been taken into the types of essential items that people might need in their home when struggling and mentally unwell, including pet food.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure their care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. The service considered people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Staff in the adult community mental health service were conscious of people’s different needs. This was particularly evident in the assertive outreach team, where most staff and managers told us to support people effectively, they needed to make sure they got to know and understand them. They told us this helped to make sure they could adapt their support approaches as people’s mental health and engagement levels fluctuated. Some staff told us examples of going to meet people in places they knew they liked to spend time in, when they did not attend appointments.

Some staff told us they considered people’s communication needs when supporting their care and treatment and that interpreters were easily available. They told us people who needed interpreters could request the same one at each appointment. Staff told us this was helpful, as the interpreters also got to know people in a way that made their interpretation support more effective and made the person feel more comfortable.

Some staff told us about considerations they made to meet the needs of autistic people. For example, we were told about an autistic person who struggled with some of the CMHT environments, so staff made sure they always saw them in the same room they felt comfortable in.

Staff asked people about what mattered to them. We observed an initial assessment where the consultant asked about the person’s spiritual and cultural needs, relationships, employment and future hopes and goals. This helped the consultant suggest a treatment plan that they explained met their needs. The person who used services and their carers seemed happy with the support given and the carers later told us they felt they had “truly been listened to”.

Everyone who accessed the adult community mental health service had a named member of staff responsible for their care, whether that was a care co-ordinator or a lead professional. Teams operated waiting lists for people to be allocated a care co-ordinator or lead professional after their initial assessment. Some staff told us this meant they were able to get to know people, their preferences and needs. They could also respond effectively to any changes in someone’s mental health or risk presentation.

Staff at all levels and managers told us they supported people’s preferences as much as possible. In the assertive outreach team, some staff told us they often had requests for staff of a specific gender or ethnicity. For example, one person we spoke with told us they had requested a change to their community psychiatric nurse, which was accommodated.

The service promoted people’s independence, so they knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

The hub and spoke model of the integrated neighbourhood transformation supported the adult community mental health service to involve people in making decisions about their care. Teams and services worked collaboratively, which some staff told us meant it was easier for people to be included in discussions and decisions about their care when their needs change. For example, the close working relationship with the perinatal mental health team, meant that people could be involved in decisions about transfers between teams when they became pregnant, or were post-partum.

Lived experience partners were introduced to the trust as part of its Lived Experience Leadership Framework. Lived experience partners worked alongside clinical and non-clinical staff, people who used services, and carers. Senior leaders told us they used their personal experience and expertise to provide insight into the design, improvement and delivery of services. Some staff told us the introduction of lived experience partners supported how the adult community mental health service worked with people who used services and carers, which helped ensure people who used services and carers were regarded as partners in care.

Lived experience partners had helped the service understand what information was needed to support people to manage their own care in the community. For example, they had co-produced information leaflets, carers packs and welcome packs that provided information about what people could expect from services, different services and organisations that could help them, their rights as a person who used services or a carer, and what to do if they needed help. The information was displayed in an accessible way, and some staff told us the signposting to other support helped people take control of managing their care and treatment.

The Patient and Carer Involvement and Co-production Network gave people opportunities to contribute to making decisions about how services ran. They were encouraged to use their own experiences to help improve services.

Most staff across teams told us they aimed to work with people to increase their independence and ability to manage their own care and treatment. Some staff told us that often, people needed support initially to access support from other services. They told us that it was sometimes necessary for staff to make initial contact with community groups and attend them with people who used services, to support their attendance.

Staff provided support that empowered people. We observed care in which staff supported someone to have a phone call about their benefits. The staff member provided reassurance and support, and offered to speak to the caller, with consent, when the person appeared to be struggling. They then handed the call back to the person. They checked they were happy with the outcome and had understood everything that was said.

In the care we observed, staff checked people’s understanding of what was discussed and what their choices were, if relevant.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. People’s needs were responded to in that moment to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Each person who used services had a named professional responsible for their care and treatment, which most staff told us helped them develop relationships with people and carers to better understand their needs, views and wishes.

We observed interactions between people who used services and staff, and also heard from staff about multiple instances where they accommodated the immediate needs of people they supported. We observed care in which staff responded sensitively to people’s mental state at the time, ensuring they were safe and were given opportunities to talk, without putting pressure on them to engage. We observed staff speaking with carers and supported accommodation staff to make sure people were supported after appointments.

Staff were mindful of important things going on in people’s lives that might affect them and provided additional support for people as needed. For example, some staff told us that when people experienced major life events, they would sometimes need extra help with things such as cleaning or going food shopping.

When staff were concerned about people, they responded quickly to ensure their safety. For example, staff were concerned about someone with complex mental and physical health needs. They carried out an ad hoc visit and found the person was in a dangerous situation. They contacted emergency services, and the person received the necessary care.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of its staff. It supported and enabled staff to deliver person-centred care.

Workforce wellbeing was one of the trust’s key strategic priorities. Their strategy stated their aim was to become an employer of choice by creating a compassionate and inclusive culture. There were numerous resources available to support staff wellbeing.

The adult community mental health service had health and wellbeing champions, who promoted and signposted colleagues to local and national health and wellbeing support offers. They helped ensure that health and wellbeing discussions took place in team meetings. Health and wellbeing champions were trained by the workforce health and wellbeing team and the trust told us they were encouraged to complete Health Education England training to help them understand the expectations of the role and how to carry them out safely.

Staff could access a range of staff support networks to seek advice and learn from others. The staff support networks organised events throughout the year that were open to all staff.

The trust told us that staff in the adult community mental health service could attend reflective sessions which were designed to help staff process the emotional impact of working in healthcare as they listened to colleagues’ stories related to a specific theme.

Most staff and managers told us that the adult community mental health service supported the creation and maintenance of psychological safety for staff. They told us the culture of psychological safety helped them feel supported and that they would be listened to without judgement.

Staff who were struggling with their mental health and wellbeing could access mental health first aiders. Details of mental health first aiders were available on the staff intranet, so they could choose who they wanted to speak to. In 2024, the trust supported 200 members of staff to receive formal training to become mental health first aiders.

The trust had trained 5 menopause advocates who delivered menopause awareness training, facilitated individual wellbeing conversations and delivered events to raise awareness of menopause. Together with the women’s staff support network, they had created a menopause wellbeing toolkit. Staff could attend a 6-week staff-only psychoeducation programme about menopause.

Staff in the adult community mental health service received annual appraisals in which they could discuss their performance, career goals and development opportunities with their manager. Across the CMHTs, assertive outreach and PIER teams, 97% of staff had received an appraisal in data the trust shared with us in May 2025.

In 2024, the trust introduced their ‘team time out’ initiative. The charity-funded initiative enabled teams to have time together to focus on their wellbeing by undertaking an activity of their choice, away from normal day to day work activities. Feedback in 2024 was positive, and over 98% of teams reported that the initiative improved their teams’ health and wellbeing. All teams within the adult community mental health service had either attended or booked their team time out for 2025.

The adult community mental health service supported staff to develop their careers. We met staff across teams who spoke positively about the opportunities the trust had given them for career development. The trust had developed career pathways for professionals with the introduction of the multi-professional approved clinician role. Five multi-professional approved clinicians had been appointed who supported teams within the service. The assertive outreach team had supported one of its staff to become a nurse consultant.

Staff and teams’ efforts and achievements were celebrated through the trust’s Celebrating Excellence Awards. In some teams, managers had created additional opportunities to celebrate success within their own team. For example, in North West Leicestershire CMHT, some staff told us managers highlighted good practice in meetings.

The adult community mental health service supported staff following distressing or traumatic incidents. Some staff told us that they were offered support after incidents and that support was tailored to their needs. The trust’s Post-Incident Pathway for Staff Support (PIPSS) Policy included immediate and longer-term support that was available to both individuals and teams. Staff had access to clinical supervision, post-incident reviews, managerial support, peer support, pastoral support, reflective practice, occupational health, mental health first aiders and independent counselling.

Staff, managers and senior leaders told us they were proud to work for their immediate teams and for the trust. Most staff told us they were proud of the care they provided to people who used services. The trust’s autumn 2024 NHS National Staff Survey results showed 67.9% of Leicestershire NHS Partnership Trust’s staff recommended the trust as a place to work, compared with 65.2% nationally. In response to whether staff would be happy for a friend or relative to receive care from the trust, 67.7% said they would, compared with 64.8% nationally.

As part of the adult community mental health service’s transformation programme, it had introduced matrix leadership. Some managers told us this helped everyone feel valued, included and involved, and meant there was always someone senior they could approach for help if needed.

Some managers told us that there were long waits for staff to be assessed by the trust’s occupational health team. They said this could sometimes delay sickness management meetings. The trust provided evidence after the inspection that showed waiting times for occupational health appointments had almost halved between April and August 2025.