- SERVICE PROVIDER
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
This is an organisation that runs the health and social care services we inspect
Assessment report published 10 April 2026
Contents
Ratings - Specialist community mental health services for children and young people
Our view of the service
We completed an assessment of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and assessed 1 assessment group: Specialist community mental health services for children and young people.
This assessment was carried out following CQC’s Assessment Framework. We looked at 33 quality statements under the 5 key questions. We carried out a mix of onsite and offsite inspection and assessment activity between 25th and 26th November 2025.
Specialist community mental health services for children and young people comprise of several services. These include outpatient appointments, an eating disorder service, mental health group work, paediatric psychology, learning disability services, crisis support and the primary mental health teams. We did not inspect all teams. We visited 3 sites as follows:
- The Valentine Centre Gorse Hill Hospital Site, Anstey Lane, Leicester LE7 7GX
- Westcotes House, Westcotes Drive, Leicester LE3 0QU
- Loughborough Hospital, Hospital Way, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 5JY
This was an unannounced assessment, which means the trust was not told an assessment was going to be starting beforehand.
The previous assessment at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust specialist community mental health services for children and young people took place 19 November to 13 December 2018. The overall rating following that assessment was requires improvement. The key questions safe, effective and responsive were rated as requires improvement. Caring was rated good and well led was rated as inadequate. We identified breaches and issued warning notices for regulation 9 (Patient centred care) and regulation 18 (Staffing). As part of this assessment and inspection, we checked to see that concerns at the previous inspection had been addressed.
For this inspection, we have rated the service as good.
We have rated the key questions of Safe, Effective, Caring and Well-Led as good. We have rated the key question of Responsive as requires improvement. The trust had made improvements. Leadership was stronger, staff felt more confident, and monitoring systems were better. Leaders used clear dashboards to track performance, and extra funding allowed more staff to be recruited. However, infection control was not always consistent and waiting times for key treatments were still long.
We asked the trust for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act ComplianceMental Health Act
During the inspection, we were not made aware of any children or young people subject to the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983. However, the service had provision to provide care and treatment to patients subject to Community Treatment Orders under the Mental Health Act if this was required. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the Mental Health Act, the Code of Practice and the guiding principles. Staff received Mental Health Act training, with compliance rates of 94% for doctors and 93% for nurses and allied health professionals.
Staff had easy access to administrative support and legal advice on implementation of the Mental Health Act and its Code of Practice.
The trust had relevant policies and procedures that reflected the most recent guidance.
Children and young people had easy access to information about independent mental health advocacy. We saw advocacy posters across sites in the children and young people’s waiting areas.
Mental Capacity Act
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 applies to young people aged 16 or over who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves. Training in the Mental Capacity Act had been completed by 97% of staff. Staff had a good understanding of the five statutory principles.
There was a clear policy on the Mental Capacity Act, which staff could describe and knew how to access. Staff knew where to get accurate advice on the Mental Capacity Act. We saw updates and refresher information in the Children and Adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) quarterly newsletter.
Staff gave young people all possible support to make specific decisions for themselves before deciding if a person did not have the capacity to do so. Staff used age-appropriate language and visual aids. Parents and carers were involved where appropriate.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 5 children and young people during the assessment. One young person told us they were currently okay but felt the eating disorder service interventions ended quickly. They expressed concern about not always having enough post diagnosis information. Another young person told us they chose to attend sessions without their parents present. Staff arranged this. One young person said the staff always sought their views and wishes. Another young person told us they had been using the service for 3 years due to ongoing mental health difficulties. During this time, they saw a psychiatrist for regular medication reviews, and their monthly appointments included checks of their weight and blood pressure. They also received weekly one‑to‑one therapy throughout this three‑year period. They spoke positively about their experience, saying they liked the staff and felt the service was quite good. One young person told us they had progressed from feeling very low to feeling much better, with noticeable improvements in their health. They said the one‑to‑one sessions over the months had made a real difference, and they were grateful, adding that staff had been great throughout. We spoke with 13 parents and carers. One parent said they had used crisis services for a year and had experienced long waits but found staff were accessible by telephone for support. A carer told us they received a carers assessment and staff put a pack together of what's available in their area. Another carer said they had been sign posted to the Leicestershire Recovery College, where some of the courses were run by people with lived mental health experience. One parent described feeling well supported through holding an appointment with staff at a local mental health café, while another parent spoke positively about the support and time provided by the carer peer support worker. (A carer peer support worker is someone who has lived experience of being an unpaid carer and uses that experience to support, guide, and empower other carers).