NHS watchdog officially warns Avon and Wiltshire mental health provider
The Trust has been told it 'requires improvement'
Last updated 30th Mar 2023
The NHS Trust that provides mental health support to people across Bristol, Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire has been given an official warning.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its findings from an inspection of the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust in January.
It supports people across the region experiencing poor mental health, including those detained under the Mental Health Act.
The watchdog rated the Trust's acute wards and psychiatric intensive care units as "requires improvement".
Some of the specific issues raised include staff not consistently updating risk assessments, responding to safety incidents, or tackling the risk of abuse.
Other problems were staff not always safely managing medicines and equipment, as well as being slow to address longstanding challenges with patient safety. The Trust also has high and rising vacancy rates.
In response to issues on the acute wards, the CQC gave the Trust a warning notice. It's now required to improve the safety of its patient care and treatment.
However, the long stay or rehabilitation mental health wards were rated as "good" by the watchdog.
The Trust had previously been deemed to "require improvement" overall. This inspection wasn't wide-ranging enough to update that rating.
'Environments that didn’t always support people’s safety'
Serena Coleman, CQC deputy director of operations in the south of England, said:
"The acute wards faced significant pressure due to staffing shortages, which meant observations weren’t always undertaken often enough. This was worsened by some poor record management, and environments that didn’t always support people’s safety.
"While staffing challenges are affecting much of the NHS, leaders must ensure this doesn’t undermine people’s safety. We’ve issued the Trust with a warning notice, so it’s clear about the improvements it must make in these areas.
"Despite the pressure they were under, staff created a positive culture, collaborating well together to support people’s best interests.
"However, there were gaps in staff training, including to support people whose distress presented risk to themselves and others. Although managers told us they are addressing this".
The CQC has now vowed to "monitor" the Trust closely and "return" to determine whether sufficient improvements have been made.
'Significant progress has already been made to improve care'
In response to the report, Dominic Hardisty, Chief Executive at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, said:
"While we are pleased to receive an overall 'Good' rating across our rehabilitation wards, we are disappointed that the care in our adult inpatient wards did not meet the high standards that our patients deserve.
"Safety will always be our top priority and we are committed to quickly achieving CQC’s requirements. Immediate action was taken to update our Quality Improvement Plans and significant progress has already been made to improve care".