News from our partners: Good rating for Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

News from our partners Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

In its first inspection by the Care Quality Commission, Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust received a Good rating overall, and wards for older people with mental health problems were rated as outstanding in the effective domain.

The effective domain relates to people’s care, treatment and support. It assesses the outcomes achieved, the quality of life and whether care is based on the best available evidence.

The CQC identified a lot of outstanding practice.

Community health inpatient services were recognised for delivering highly personalised care, particularly for people with dementia and challenging behaviour.

Our wards for people with a learning disability or autism use care plans that are very detailed, person-centre and evidence-based.

A number of areas were included in the report that related to our wards for older people with mental health problems; the reduction in the number of falls, use of empathy dolls, reducing unnecessary hospital admissions, personal behavioural support plans for patients being discharged, end of life suite where family could stay and an inter-generational therapy programme.

A dedicated telephone number for patients to use within seven days of discharge to quickly reconnect with their key worker was an outstanding feature of our mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety.

Neil Carr, Chief Executive, said:

“This is an exceptional result for our staff. The organisation was less than a year old when the inspectors visited. I am particularly pleased to see that the CQC witnessed physical health care needs effectively addressed within the core mental health services. This is the single biggest reason for the merger of the two organisations; to create a single joined-up service around the service user and their family, reducing confusion, duplication and enabling better care co-ordination.”

The report recognises that managers actively engaged with other local health and social care providers to ensure that an integrated health and care system was provided to meet the needs of the local population.

Neil Carr added:-

“I am pleased that our commitment to continuous quality improvement was also recognised. Over 1,000 members of staff have received training in quality improvement methods and we have set up an academy within the Trust to develop these skills even further.”

The Care Quality Commission inspects five domains; caring, responsive, effective, well-led, safe. Examples of good practice were identified in each of the five domains.

Safe; the Trust had a good track record on safety and shared lessons learned.

Caring; staff treated patients with compassion and kindness. Dental services staff were described as ‘amazing’. The Trust had an active programme for the involvement of patients and carers in service development and evaluation of service effectiveness.

Responsive; the referral criteria for the mental health crisis teams did not exclude patients who would have benefited from care and staff followed up people who missed appointments.

Effective; care and treatment was based on national guidance and evidence. Staff of different kinds worked together as a team to benefit patients.

This domain was rated requires improvement because there was no central recording of supervision. This will be addressed.

Well-led; managers at all levels in the Trust had the right skills and abilities to run a service providing high quality sustainable care. Staff knew and understood the Trust’s vision and values.