NHS trust better but still has room for improvement, says national watchdog
SOME ISSUES IDENTIFIED LAST YEAR FIXED, BUT NO CHANGE IN INSPECTORS’ OVERALL RATING
AN NHS trust which provides mental health services has made improvements since an inspection report last year but still has work to do, the latest assessment of its work has concluded.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out a follow-up inspection of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
Officials returned unannounced in February this year to inspect the trust’s acute wards for adults and its psychiatric intensive care units.
Their assessment, published this week, said the trust had implemented all the required measures, but some improvements were still needed.
These included making sure patients had access to alarms so they could call for help.
At the time of the latest inspection, mental health patients in all wards had been assessed and those judged to be at risk had been offered wrist alarms which would enable them to summon help in an emergency.
However, in some wards, those devices and some wall-mounted alarms were not always routinely checked to make sure they were working correctly.
The CQC said the trust “must ensure staff carry out regular testing”.
In some parts of the service, the electronic patient records, including risk assessments regarding alarms, were also not always updated.
The watchdog said: “The trust must ensure that for each patient who wears a wrist-worn alarm a care plan is in place for its use in the electronic patient record.”
Steps had also been taken to eliminate dormitorystyle sleeping arrangements. At the time of the inspection, all but one ward had switched to single-bed rooms. The remaining ward was preparing to relocate so refurbishment could be carried out. The watchdog also found last year that staff knocked but did not always wait before entering patients’ rooms, resulting in instances of staff walking in while a patient was changing.
Some patients told inspectors in February this was still a problem with some agency staff, despite signs on each bedroom door.
As a result of the progress made, the service was rated requires improvement for safety, a step up from the previous inadequate.
The rating for responsiveness also moved up one grade to good.
Angela Hillery, chief executive of the trust, said: “It has been a consistent part of our Step up to Great improvement journey to put improved patient experiences and safety as our highest priority.
“We are pleased the CQC has recognised that significant progress continues to be made.
“We are committed to creating high quality, compassionate care and well-being for all.
“We have robust plans in place to monitor and embed these new processes for personal alarms, to ensure risk assessments and care plans are completed on the patient’s electronic care record and to ensure that alarms are regularly tested.”
Concerns were also raised in the inspection last year about the state of some wards, which had broken windows and dirty and damaged furniture.
Staff training was found to be incomplete, with only 38 per cent of staff up to date on their training in one ward.
The trust said this was due to training being suspended during the pandemic.
These issues were not addressed in the latest CQC report.
As this was a focused inspection on safety and responsiveness in one area of the service, the trust was not re-rated as a whole and remains “requires improvement”.
Craig Howarth, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for mental health and community health services, said: “I’m pleased to report that since our last inspection, leaders and staff have worked hard to improve the acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
“However, there is still more work to be done and we’ll continue to monitor the trust’s progress.”
The watchdog said: “The trust must ensure that for each patient who wears a wrist-worn alarm a care plan is in place for its use in the electronic patient record