Mental health trust still needs to improve

A mental health trust has again been told to improve after inspectors found a "deterioration" in how well the service was being led.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out inspections of the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust in October and November, in response to safety concerns.

The watchdog said it had found not enough staff members had been trained in immediate life support to ensure they could act in medical emergencies.

The trust said it was "always committed" to providing the "best possible care for all our service users".

It provides mental health services for people in Birmingham and Solihull and across the Midlands, operating from more than 50 sites.

The safe rating for acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units was described as "inadequate".

The overall rating for those areas remained as "requires improvement", with how well led the service was being downgraded to "inadequate" following the inspection.

In a report, the CQC said leaders were not effectively managing staffing, with plans for people to go on escorted leave from the hospital regularly cancelled, affecting patients' wellbeing and morale.

It added audits, checks and learning from incidents were "not always effective" in ensuring continuous improvement.

Staff did not always understand their roles and responsibilities, with staff on one ward often not taking breaks due to understaffing.

However, people told the CQC they felt safe on the wards and some staff members attended daily safety huddles, which helped them to understand people's risks.

Wards were also clean and generally well maintained, the report added.

Amanda Lyndon, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said that when a service was not well led, it resulted in a "knock-on effect" on the quality of care being received by patients.

She said the CQC had told leaders where it expected to see "rapid improvements" highlighted in warning notices it had issued to ensure patients' safety.

"We will return to check on their progress and won't hesitate to use our regulatory powers further if people aren't receiving the care they have a right to expect," she added.

In a statement, a spokesperson for trust said they acknowledged and accepted the CQC's findings.

"Since the inspection we have taken rigorous steps to strengthen leadership, address staffing shortages and provide intensive training to ensure staff are able to deliver the highest quality of care to our patients and service users," they added.

"We still have work to do and are always committed to providing the best possible care for all our service users."

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