Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

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

People’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

Staff in the health-based places of safety (HBPoS) ensured that patients were assessed within the legal timeframe.

First response hub staff signposted people to other local services and followed up people who presented at local hospitals. Staff in the Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) teams liaised with other services and carers during discharge planning.

Staff across all services understood patient needs, tailored treatment plans accordingly and used different methods to obtain feedback.

This service scored 71 (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 made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs.

During our inspection we observed examples of how staff across all locations provided person-centred care. For example, staff in the crisis resolution home treatment (CRHT) teams rearranged an appointment for someone at short notice. We observed staff handover meetings where staff discussed preferences of people using the service and provided the same staff for appointments where possible.

Recommendations for improvements included improved information about side effects when stopping medication against medical advice.

The health-based places of safety (HBPoS) completed a risk assessment form with police upon arrival. This included a risk rating of the patient, followed an agreement made if police should remain with the patient in the HBPoS when required.

Crisis resolution home treatment (CRHT) staff described the importance of family and carers, particularly when discharging people to other teams. People were given safety flash cards to easily demonstrate how they were feeling and to access support in crisis.

First response hub staff referred people to local pathways such as crisis cafés and houses. First response hub staff were able to alert emergency services if someone was in immediate danger.

The service understood the diverse health and care needs of people and our local communities, so care is joined-up, flexible and supports choice and continuity.

Staff ensured that people who used services had access to support groups to build relationships and community integration.

Staff supported patients and people to maintain contact with their families and carers. Patients detained in the health-based places of safety said they were kept in contact with their families, or updates were provided if this was not appropriate.

The service worked with local partners, people and their carers to gain feedback on services and worked to make improvements where necessary.

The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

Staff made notifications to external bodies as needed. Staff submitted incidents and safeguarding referrals through the service’s electronic computer system.

Information governance systems included confidentiality of patient records. Staff received training as part of mandatory training and were aware of the importance of confidentiality.

The service’s website’s accessibility statement detailed the different ways that their website could be accessed. Examples included the ability for text to be enlarged, to change contrast and font. Most of their website was compatible with speech recognition software. Leaflets could be requested in audio, braille and easy read formats.

Staff ensured carers, families and commissioners were regularly updated about the patient’s progress. Carers spoke positively about how involved they felt with care and treatment plans.

The service made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment, and support. They involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

The service had a clearly defined process for dealing with complaints. All complaints were handled impartially with apologies and feedback provided.

In the last 12 months there were 16 complaints about the Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) teams and 5 complaints about the urgent care hub. The predominant complaint theme was aspects of clinical treatment. Between October 2024 and April 2025, there were no upheld complaints for any of the first response hubs, Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) teams, or the health-based place of safety locations.

Patients and carers were involved in decision-making about changes to the service. We received consistent themes of positive engagement from people and carers that we spoke to.

Staff enabled patients to give feedback on the service they received either through on-line surveys, a mobile application or by a QR code.

During the last 12 months, the CRHT teams received 190 compliments, the urgent care hub had received 31.

No complaints were made to or upheld by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) in the last 12 months.

The service held a monthly engagement and experience meeting where complaints, feedback from carers and stakeholders such as Healthwatch attended. Friends and Family survey results from the previous month were discussed, including positive and negative feedback. Progress with existing complaints were discussed.

The 11 people who used services and 3 carers that we spoke to were aware of how to raise a complaint. They were happy with the treatment provided and had no concerns about raising a complaint if they needed to.

Staff spoke about the importance of dealing with complaints appropriately, being honest and open was very important to ensure learning and prevent reoccurrence. Staff said they received regular feedback about complaint investigations and learning outcomes.

The service ensured that people who used crisis and first response hubs received care, support and treatment when they needed it. However, the service did not always meet the national 4-hour standard for assessments in the health-based places of safety.

We identified outstanding practice within the first response hubs. The service used a bespoke telephone system and analysed 111 call data for people to improve the service. They identified that people in crisis had ended the call before speaking to a member of staff and resolved gaps in care provision through follow-up calls to provide support and advice.

The Crisis Home Resolution Teams had a 24-hour target from referral to assessment of people and consistently achieved this between November 2024 and March 2025. The health-based places of safety (HBPoS) had a 4-hour target from patient arrival to completion of Mental Health Act Assessment (MHAA). From September 2024 to March 2025, the average time for completion of a MHAA was 9 hours.

As a result of monthly performance meetings, the service told us data improvements were scheduled for May 2025 to generate an alert if an AMHP is not contacted within 1 hour of arrival at a HBPoS. The service had worked with the local integration board to improve escalation processes in their HBPoS suites to prevent unnecessary patient delays.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

The services’ chief nurse was the executive board lead for the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF), to improve the experience and outcomes of people who use mental health services. Following self-assessment of their own PCREF processes, the service introduced a new governance structure in January 2025 to develop and improve oversight of local PCREF plans. In April 2025, the service implemented improved data collection to include improved recording of complaints, waiting times and admissions from patients with protected characteristics to include ethnicity.

The service demonstrated their commitment to improving patient and carer participation by increased use of technology such as social media channels and more user-friendly systems. The service had a dedicated multi-ethnic carer co-ordinator in post; an important part of their role is to build service and engagement with multi-ethnic communities.

The service had undertaken equality impact assessments of their policies and procedures to identify and eliminate health inequalities and barriers. All staff could access a range of impact assessment templates for use when developing policies and procedures.

Staff were trained in equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights. In March 2025, Mere Suite and Mid Mersey CRHT were at 100% compliance, North Mersey CRHT were at 98% and first response hub staff were 95% compliant. All were above the target of 90%.

Staff followed a service wide reasonable adjustment policy based on the social model of disability to ensure they prevented discrimination and made reasonable adjustments in line with legislation.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

People who used services were supported to retain independence with decisions about their care and treatment and their future. This was a consistent theme in all care records that we reviewed.

Staff create personalised care plans to account for the patient’s needs, wishes and feelings. We found consistent themes of accurate and comprehensive notes, alongside timely and individualised risk assessments and care plans.

Staff ensured all relevant healthcare professionals and other relevant bodies are involved in planning the care and treatment of people with complex needs. We observed complex case meetings for people with additional needs and involved wider multi-disciplinary staff to problem solve and facilitate extra support.

Discharge planning from crisis resolution home treatment (CRHT) and health-based place of safety (HBPoS) teams included discussion with family members and development of crisis plans to support people and patients.