Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation 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

This means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

This is the first inspection for this service since the formation of the new trust. This key question has been rated good.

Good:This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

Staff mostly treated people with compassion and kindness. They respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff sought people’s feedback on the quality of care provided. They understood the individual needs of people who used services and supported them to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. Staff informed and involved families and carers appropriately.

However, the service did not consistently promote the wellbeing of their staff. They did not always support or enable staff to deliver person-centred care.

This service scored 65 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff mostly treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. However, some people told us some staff were not always respectful or empathetic.

We saw staff attitudes and behaviours were respectful and responsive when interacting with people who used services. Staff provided people who used services with help, emotional support and advice and we observed kind and respectful interactions during our inspection.

However, some people using services in the Isle of Wight gave examples of not feeling listened to by staff, especially where they had experienced lots of changes of staff during their care and treatment. The same people gave universally positive feedback about the kindness and respect from peer support workers.

Staff sought feedback on the quality of care provided. Posters were displayed in reception areas of team bases encouraging people to leave feedback using a QR code. We saw positive feedback from people displayed in team bases we visited. The Isle of Wight Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) team showed us an example of compliments they had received from people. This included comments such as:

• ‘thank you so much for….listening and hearing me, encouraging me and making me feel like I’m not crazy and that a brighter future could be ahead’
• ‘thank you for your kindness and support’

The service shared the April 2025 report of feedback from people using services. However, this had only 5 respondents and did not cover feedback about all Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT).

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

Feedback provided in August 2025 to the Isle of Wight Recovery team showed people felt the service worked with them on things that were important to them. They said their spiritual, religious and cultural needs were respected and addressed.

Staff ensured people could obtain information on treatments and local services. We saw information displayed in waiting and communal areas in bases we visited. For example, we saw information on veteran mental health support services displayed in the waiting area of the Isle of Wight EIP team.

Staff made adjustments for people who used services who had additional needs or disabilities. Staff told us about working with psychology staff to develop a tailored plan for working with an autistic person, which included use of dark glasses and ear defenders.

At the College Keep CMHT base, funding had been secured to build a sensory room for people attending the CMHT who may benefit from this. Work was in progress to build this at the time of our inspection.

Staff could provide information in accessible formats and had access to interpretation services for people with English as a second language. Managers ensured that staff and people who used services had easy access to interpreters. Staff gave examples of using interpreters on calls and at face-to-face meetings.

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

During our inspection we saw examples of staff promoting independence for people who used services. Teams included employment support workers who supported people who used services to gain and maintain paid employment. We saw examples of people supported to find employment that matched their needs and preferences and maximised their independence.

At Eastleigh CMHT staff facilitated a wellness and recovery group for people using services. Members of the group ran some sessions to build their confidence and skills. The group aimed to support people to build networks outside of the service through peer-led social and wellbeing activities.

The trust’s intranet had appropriate information for staff about supporting carers, including a carers charter which recognised the essential role carers played and ensured it was respected. The Isle of Wight EIP team facilitated a monthly family and friends online support group and the South West EIP team carer support lead facilitated monthly support meetings with families and carers.

Staff informed and involved families and carers appropriately. The service provided information about its approach to Triangle of Care. The Triangle of Care is an improvement tool based on 6 principles to ensure providers include and support unpaid carers. However, the information was for a legacy organisation, and the service did not provide an update on how this had been adopted since the trust formed.

Though the service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes, this was not always reflected in people’s care record. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff we spoke to showed an awareness of people’s needs and any specific risk issues.

Staff met regularly as a multidisciplinary team (MDT). We saw discussions included identifying risks to, or posed by, people who used services and developing appropriate MDT plans to manage these risks. Staff met in a daily huddle meeting to discuss new and emerging risks and any action needed.

Staff completed training on conflict resolution. Compliance with this training was above 85% across all teams. However, staff were not required to complete training on reducing restrictive practice. This training aims to enable staff to develop knowledge and skills in the least restrictive management of people when they have a heightened emotional reaction.

Though the service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of staff, some staff did not always feel supported and enabled to deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they felt positive about working for the service and their immediate teams. They felt supported and valued by each other and their local managers. However, some staff told us they felt pressure from the wider trust to meet key performance indicators and this impacted quality of care. Staff we spoke with told us local managers consulted them on changes and escalated concerns. However, they told us they had not been consulted on changes that impacted their work by the wider organisation. They told us changes were implemented where they did not understand the rationale for these and felt some changes did not take account of local differences and needs. Staff felt weekly updates were not always effective and gave examples of changes implemented which they had not been informed of.

Some staff told us they did not feel safe when lone working. Not all staff at Central and West CMHT on the Isle of Wight had access to lone working devices nor had received training in use of personal alarms. However, other staff such as those at Portsmouth Recovery Team had access to a mobile phone application to use to stay safe when lone working.

Staff had access to support for their own physical and emotional health needs through an occupational health service. Staff in some teams had access to regular reflective practise sessions.

Managers recognised staff success within the service. Managers in the Isle of Wight Recovery Service shared positive feedback with staff through ‘wow’ moments in team meetings and a photo board in the office. In the Isle of Wight EIP team they awarded a ‘star of the week’ award to staff.