- SERVICE PROVIDER
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
This is an organisation that runs the health and social care services we inspect
Assessment report published 16 September 2025
Contents
Ratings - Mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety
Our view of the service
We carried out an inspection of the service’s mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety on 15, 16 and 17 April 2025 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. We also inspected community-based mental health services for adults of working age as part of the programme.
The trust has 2 first response services. They are located at Clock View Hospital in Liverpool and Hollins Park Hospital in Warrington.
The trust has 2 Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) teams, 1 at Harry Blackman House in St Helens and 1 at Broadoak Unit in Liverpool.
The trust has 3 health-based places of safety suites (HBPoS). One at Prenton Suite in Clock View Hospital Liverpool, another at Hollins Park Hospital in Warrington and also at Knowsley Resource and Recovery Centre, Whiston.
The assessment team comprised of 2 CQC inspectors, 1 CQC senior specialist in mental health, 1 CQC clinical fellow, 1 CQC operations manager, 1 CQC delivery co-ordinator, 2 specialist advisors, 2 CQC mental health act reviewers, 3 CQC medicines inspectors and 1 expert by experience (someone with experience of using or caring for someone who uses or has used mental health services).
During this inspection, we focused on services provided to adults between 18 and 65 years of age, in line with how we register assessment service groups.
Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) teams provide support to people who have a mental health crisis outside of hospital. They also provide support to help facilitate early discharge from hospital to provide treatment at home.
Health-based places of safety suites are used if someone is detained by police under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, to remain for a maximum of 24 hours until a Mental Health Act Assessment is undertaken.
During this assessment, we undertook:
- Visits at both first response hubs in Southport and Liverpool
- Visits at both crisis resolution and home treatment teams (CRHTs) in Merseyside and St Helens
- Visited pharmacy dispensary at Hollins Park Hospital
- Visited 3 Health Based Places of Safety suites (HBPoS) at Hollins Park Hospital, Knowsley Resource and Recovery Centre and Southport and Formby Hospital
- Observed handover meetings and complex case reviews
- Looked at the quality of the environment in patient areas at the Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Teams (CRHTs) and the health-based places of safety suites
- Spoke with 40 staff members including consultant psychiatrists, junior doctors, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, registered nurses, associate mental health workers and support team recovery staff
- Observed 6 crisis support calls
- Undertook pathway tracking for 5 service users
- Observed 2 first response hub assessments
- Spoke with 12 patients and 3 carers or relatives
- Reviewed 45 patients care and treatment records
We last visited the service as part of an overall inspection schedule in July 2015 and rated all domains of safe, effective, responsive, caring and well-led as good. We did not find any breaches of regulation at our last inspection.
At this inspection we rated the service as good. We found 2 breaches of regulation relating to staffing levels at both crisis resolution home (CRHT) teams.
We found outstanding practice in the first response hub’s use of telephone systems. Analysis of data resulted in streamlined options for callers and increased supervision for staff.
In September 2024, the service’s mental triage and assessment team won the Seni Lewis award at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) annual awards ceremony. This was in recognition of collaboration between health services and police.
We observed outstanding practice during a Mental Health Act Assessment (MHAA) at Hollins Park health-based place of safety (HBPoS) where community personality disorder practitioners supported a patient who was detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 as part of their enhanced care plan.
People's experience of this service
Feedback obtained during the CQC 2024 Community Mental Health Survey showed an improved level of support was available for people who used services and their carers. From the responses received, 2 out of 49 people who used Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) teams reported a poor experience. Positive staff interactions overlapped with patients feeling listened to and reinforced the need for improved person-centred care.
We spoke to 12 people who used services. Feedback was consistently positive about the treatment that they had received, and no concerns were raised. All 12 people told us they felt involved and empowered by friendly and helpful staff. People felt that their physical healthcare was considered as important as their mental health.
We spoke to 3 carers of people who had used the crisis service or health-based places of safety. Their feedback was positive, they told us they felt fully involved with treatment plans, were invited to care planning meetings and received quick responses for crisis support. They said the service was safe and they knew how to make a complaint if they needed to.
We observed kind and compassionate care during observation of crisis calls and assessments.
However, some people who responded to the CQC 2023 Community Mental Health Survey said they did not feel fully involved when changes were made to their medication.
Feedback from Healthwatch from February 2024 to March 2025 included reports of changes to consultants and poor experience of care from people who used Crisis Resolution Home (CRHT) teams.