03.01.17
Isle of Wight trust ordered to improve community mental health services
The CQC has informed Isle of Wight NHS Trust that it must make immediate improvements to its mental health services, after the regulator placed conditions on the trust’s registration in order to minimise the risk of patients being harmed.
Following a CQC inspection, the trust has been informed that it must introduce an effective escalation system to prioritise patients who urgently need access to community mental health services.
Dr Paul Lelliot, deputy chief inspector of hospitals and the CQC’s lead for mental health, said: “We have found that some people who need access to the community mental health services were at risk of harm because they are having to wait too long to be assessed or treated.
“We expect the Isle of Wight NHS Trust to focus on these improvements as a matter of priority. We will return in due course to ensure that the required improvements have been made.”
The trust has also been asked to carry out an urgent assessment of the physical environment on the mental health wards at its St Mary’s Hospital.
The assessment was requested after the CQC found potential ligature points on the wards, with the trust being asked to create an action plan to lessen the risks posed.
The chief executive of the trust, Karen Baker, said: “On behalf of the trust, I am sorry some of the island services have not met the standard we would want them to.”
Baker added that the trust would implement a new e-rostering system to monitor staffing after the CQC’s preliminary report, leaked to the Isle of Wight County Press late last year, also found that the hospital’s wards were inadequately staffed.
The Isle of Wight trust had already been under fire from the CQC after an earlier report revealed the trust as one of the worst underperformers in last year’s community mental health care survey.
The CQC is expected to publish a full report of its findings from the inspection over the next few weeks.
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