An NHS trust which provides services across the area has been rated ‘Good’ by England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals.
The Cheshire and Wirral Partnership was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Overall services were rated ‘outstanding’ for being caring and ‘good’ for being responsive, well-led and effective. But the safety of some wards was said to require improvement.
The trust, a major employer with 3,400 staff, provides mental health, learning disability and substance misuse services in Cheshire and Wirral as well as physical community services in West Cheshire in partnership with local authorities, service users, carers and voluntary and independent bodies.
A team of CQC inspectors and specialist advisors spent four days inspecting the services provided by the trust. They saw mental health wards for children and young people, working age adults and older people, forensic services and physical and mental health community services for people of all ages.
Morale good across all services
Inspectors found that the trust was committed to improving the quality of services and had governance arrangements to support that aim.
Morale was good across all services and staff teams were motivated and committed to providing high quality care and treatment to patients.
There were systems in place to report when things go wrong and a positive culture of learning and continuous improvement that was shared by staff in the trust’s hospitals and in the community.
The trust had worked hard to significantly improve staffing levels but continued to face staffing challenges on some wards. Overall staffing levels were safe and case loads across community teams were in line with the guidance.
Most patients said they received good care and inspectors saw ‘numerous examples’ of staff having ‘gone the extra mile’ to ensure patients’ needs were being met. However some of the trust’s acute mental health wards did not fully meet national guidance regarding same sex-accommodation which requires there to be segregated facilities for men and women.
Staff are 'dedicated and compassionate'
CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals and lead for mental health, Dr Paul Lelliott, said: “Overall we have found that the services provided by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership are Good, and in some places Outstanding. Most people we met, either as patients or carers, spoke very highly of the care and that is reflected in these ratings.
“We saw dedicated and compassionate staff using innovative approaches to communicate effectively with patients.
“While our overall finding is that the trust provides a Good service, we did find some areas for improvement in relation to the safety of some services."
He described the trust as well led and said he was confident it would deal with issues which had been identified. Inspectors would return in due course to check on progress.
CWP chief executive Sheena Cumiskey said: “We are delighted with the results which are a great reflection on the high quality of care delivered by our services and the professionalism and caring nature of our staff. Overall, the report recognises lots of excellent patient care and good practice which shows we are heading in the right direction and that our services are seen as responsive to meet people’s needs.”
