Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

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• 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.

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

This service scored 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff attitudes and behaviours when interacting with patients showed that they were generally discreet, respectful and responsive, providing patients with help, emotional support and advice at the time they needed it, and this is what we observed during the inspection.

Staff generally supported patients to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. They provided one to one sessions and information to patients on request.

Staff directed patients to other services when appropriate and, if required, supported them to access those services. This included escorting them to hospital for their physical health needs.

Whilst most patients said that staff treated them well and behaved appropriately towards them, some patients fed back to us that they were not always treated in the same way. We spoke with 34 patients during the assessment, and 4 patients were unhappy with staff behaviour. Two patients said staff did not treat them well, did not behave appropriately and did not always respond quickly when they were distressed or needed help. Two other patients said that night staff were disrespectful and did not knock on their door before entering their rooms. We identified that at Amber and Pavilion wards, staff carried out physical health checks in the communal lounge instead of a private room. This did not ensure that the privacy and dignity of the patients was upheld. We fed this back to the ward manager at the time of our inspection.

Staff understood the individual needs of patients, including their personal, cultural, social and religious needs for example, patients were escorted to do shopping in the local shops. supported

Staff said they could raise concerns about disrespectful, discriminatory or abusive behaviour or attitudes towards patients without fear of the consequences.

Staff maintained the confidentiality of information about patients.

The premises was accessible to patients who had mobility needs and provided extra support for patients who had communication challenges, For example, the provision of accessible access to the wards. The Staff used visual aids to support communication and there were disabled bathrooms on each ward. Patients with identified communication needs had specific care plans in place such as a positive behaviour support plans which was created with the input of the OT, and this included strategies for staff to use if patients were distressed. This helped staff to manage patients distressed behaviours.

Staff ensured that patients could obtain information on treatments, local services, patients’ rights, how to complain and so on. Staff provided patients and carers with information packs on admission. There were patient notice boards on each ward. They contained information on patients’ rights, complaints, advocacy, safeguarding and mental health law.

The information provided was in a format accessible to patients. The information was clear and easy to understand. Staff made information leaflets available in languages spoken by patients.

Managers ensured that staff and patients had easy access to interpreters, translators and/or signers. Staff arranged for interpreters to attend sessions via video calls. Interpreters were employed by the wards to read patients their 132 rights, attend reviews and help with various engagements.

Patients had a choice of food to meet the dietary requirements of religious and ethnic groups and to account for allergies and intolerances. Twenty five patients told us the food was good. Patients said the food was varied, appetising and well-received. However, 8 patients and 3 staff members felt the food was not very good. One patient told us there was not much to choose from as there were fewer vegan options of food.

Staff ensured that patients had access to appropriate spiritual support and provided religious materials. A chaplain visited all the wards weekly. The hospital had a multifaith room that patients could access to pray.

Staff read patients’ rights to them in a way that they could understand. Staff repeatedly read patients’ rights to them until staff felt assured that patients had understood them. Staff explored consent to treatment, types of medication and side effects with patients, and we saw that these were recorded in patient records.

Staff encouraged patients to attend their ward rounds and all other meetings relating to their care and treatment. They could request support from the advocacy services to represent their wishes and feelings, and carers were invited with the patient’s permission. However, 2 patients said they were not aways fully included in the discussion at ward rounds and not all disciplines were included in giving feedback.

Patients had a choice to access activities that would support their wellbeing. Patients could attend a gym, an activities room for art and craft-based activities as well as attending smoking cessation support.

Staff were generally aware of and dealt with any specific risk issues. Staff maintained the safety of the patients’ bedroom and safe management of items that could be used to self-harm by ensuring that any of such items were locked away in safe cupboards.

Staff used de-escalation techniques to reduce the need for physical interventions when patients’ behaviours became heightened. Thirty out of 34 patients had a personal behavioural support plan in place which identified patient triggers, best methods of communication and patients’ preferred support methods for de-escalation. Staff used verbal de-escalation, sensory objects, reassurance and distraction techniques, and only used restraint as a last resort when all other interventions had failed.

Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Staff said the relationship between staff and managers had improved and that managers were open and supportive of their concerns. Managers that we spoke with were aware of the challenges that teams faced and were working to support them.

Staff generally felt positive and proud about working for the provider and their team. For example, staff felt proud about the resilience and relationship building with patients and the positive things patients say about the service they received. Senior managers were proud of being able to establish Palmeira ward and seeing the staff grow to become a fully established team. Managers were also proud of being able to employ a nurse consultant which is a new role in the trust. The role was created to support patients with complex emotional needs.

Staff had access to support for their own physical and emotional health needs through an occupational health service. There was an employee assistance programme which provided staff with access to counselling. Staff also spoke highly of the psychology team who provided regular reflective practice sessions and proactively checked in on staff wellbeing, particularly after incidents.

The service’s staff sickness and absence were similar to the average for the provider which was 3.7%.

The provider recognised staff success within the service. For example, staff across the locations we visited informed us the provider organised yearly staff away days. Staff were awarded certificates for their hard work as well as being able to achieve an award for employee of the month.Trust wide positive practice awards and individual staff and teams who performed well in their duties also received individual and team vouchers as an incentive to drive performance.

Staff appraisals included conversations about career development and how it could be supported. Senior managers attended leadership courses and given a buddy to support them. Ward staff were supported with flexible working if they wished to undertake a course. Support workers were encouraged to develop and work towards senior support worker roles. Some staff that we spoke with had achieved this. For example, one manager told us they started working with the trust as a healthcare assistant and was supported by their manager to engage in a career development programme and had been able to progress to become a manager. Another staff member on Jade ward said they were encouraged and supported by their manager to begin associate nurse apprentice training. However, one staff member told us it was difficult for allied health staff to access the provider’s career development courses.