Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust

Ratings - Mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety

• Overall

  Good

• Safe

  Requires improvement

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Good

Our view of the service

We carried out an inspection of Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust’s mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety on 17 to 31 March 2026. The mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety form part of the trust’s mental health services in the community. This inspection was completed as part of CQC's Adult Community Mental Health Programme. The programme of inspections contributes to CQC's commitment to inspect the standard of care in community mental health services across the country. We undertook a short notice announced, comprehensive inspection of this service, looking at all 5 key questions to assess if services are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust provides health services across Hull, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Whitby, Scarborough and Ryedale to a population of 765,000 people of all ages across an area of over 4,700 square kilometres.

The trust has 1 crisis resolution home treatment team and 2 health-based places of safety, both based at Miranda House in Hull. It provides an NHS 111 option 2 phone line although there are other telephone lines that health care staff, people who use the service, carers and families and the public can use to access mental health services. The trust has plans to streamline the telephone service and provide 1 single point of access for all mental health services later this year.

The crisis resolution home treatment team is multidisciplinary, operates over a 24-hour period and offers assessment of people in a mental health crisis. It provides intensive support and treatment interventions to people within their own homes as a least restrictive alternative to mental health hospital admission. The team act as ‘gatekeepers’ to hospital admission and facilitate early discharge back into the community with support. Treatments include medication, psychosocial interventions, physical health monitoring and promotion of relapse prevention.

A health-based place of safety (HBPoS) also known as a 136 suite, is a designated space within a hospital or other health facility where individuals detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act can be safely assessed. This secure environment allows health professionals to determine the best course of action for the individual's mental health needs, whether that's further assessment, treatment, or discharge.

A health-based place of safety is not a ward for long-term admission but a place for initial assessment. People can be detained in a place of safety for up to 24-hours, allowing for the necessary assessment. The trust has 2 HBPoS both located at Miranda House in Hull.

We last inspected Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety in May 2019 when it was rated good. We did not identify any breaches of regulations at that inspection. At this inspection we identified 1 breach of regulation related to the environment in the health-based places of safety.

We asked the trust for an action plan in response to the concern we found at this inspection.

People's experience of this service

We spoke with 4 people who used services, 2 carers and 1 person who was detained in the health-based places of safety. People were complimentary about the service, said they had received good care, and that staff were respectful and provided people with help when they needed it. People said they could easily contact the service and staff were knowledgeable and skilled. Relatives and carers said they felt included and supported. People said staff listened to them, and were kind, compassionate and caring.

We observed 3 visits and listened to 3 NHS 111 option 2 calls. We saw that staff were respectful and showed compassion. They built up a rapport with people, gave information in a clear, concise way and provided help and support. We observed staff providing good quality care and they interacted well with people and built-up good rapport.

One person told us ‘The care I received was fantastic. Staff could not have done anything more for me.’ Another person told us, “I cannot give them anything but a good review, they definitely make a difference, at first, it was daunting, overwhelming, terrifying. But not a bad experience.’