"Urgent action" taken to keep people safe at Shropshire NHS Trust

"Urgent action" has been taken by the Care Quality Commission to keep people safe after an inspection of children and young people’s services at The Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

It took place on the 24th February following "concerning information about the safety and quality of the assessment and treatment of children and young people who presented to the service with acute mental health needs or learning disabilities."

Inspectors found that children and young people who were admitted to the hospital because of poor mental health or those with learning disabilities didn't get "adequate risk assessments on admission". The report also raised that there were no systems in place to make sure restrictive practices, like restraint, were completed "safely or appropriately."

As a result, the Trust has been told it must not admit any new patients under the age of 18 "who present solely with acute mental health needs."

As well as that, the trust's has been told it must carry out immediate reviews of records of all patients under the age of 18 who are currently in hospital with an acute mental health need. The Trust also has monitor staff for compliance and safeguarding, while making sure they're trained in this area too.

Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:

“When young people with mental health needs or learning disabilities receive care in an acute setting, all possible steps must be taken to ensure the environment is a safe one for them.

“The provision of safe care for vulnerable young people on acute wards is an issue we have previously raised in our inspections of acute trusts. We are working with NHS England and Improvement to support all trusts to deliver safe care in these circumstances.

“On this occasion, when inspectors visited the children and young people’s services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, they found concerns that urgently needed addressing.

“This is why we have imposed urgent conditions on the trust’s registration requiring immediate action to keep patients safe and ensure staff are supported with appropriate training.

“Following the inspection, the trust has been receiving safeguarding advice and expertise from the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust which it has an Improvement Alliance with.

“The trust is also working with system partners locally to identify what wider action may be required to improve the provision of care for children and young people with mental health needs more broadly across the area and we encourage these discussions.

“We are monitoring the trust extremely closely and continue to work with system partners to ensure patient safety improves. We will return to check whether sufficient improvements have been made and will take further action if needed.”

A spokesperson says it will urgently address the concerns raised in the report.

Following the inspection this targeted inspection, the overall rating for children and young people’s services went down from Requires Improvement to Inadequate. The service was also rated Inadequate for being safe, responsive, effective and well-led. The overall trust rating remains as Inadequate