An NHS body which runs mental healthcare services in Nottinghamshire has again been rated as ‘requires improvement’ by the healthcare watchdog.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was visited by the Care Quality Commission in an unannounced inspection from March to April 2022.
The trust runs community mental health services and a network of inpatient services at hospitals across Nottinghamshire.
The report, published on November 25, details how issues first raised in 2019 had still not been resolved including patients sleeping in shared accommodation.
In one unit, showers hadn’t worked properly for almost two years.
Services were rated as ‘requires improvement’ in four areas, but ‘outstanding’ under the ‘caring’ inspection area.
Inspectors visited two mental health inpatient services in rehabilitation mental health wards for adults and wards for older people with mental health problems, and community-based mental health services.
Jenny Wilkes, the commission’s head of hospital inspection, said: “It was concerning that 80 patients were still in shared sleeping accommodation. Whilst the bed areas were separated by curtains, this didn’t promote people’s wellbeing, privacy or dignity.
“This issue was raised with the trust in 2019 and they had set deadlines to get rid of these areas, but this was delayed due to refurbishment elsewhere and still hadn’t been done.
“In long stay rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults, the environment hadn’t been well maintained and repairs weren’t done in a timely way.
“For example, at Thorneywood Mount showers hadn’t worked properly for almost two years; managers had reported this issue repeatedly, but they were only ever fixed temporarily.
“In addition, within two mental health services and one community health service, there weren’t always enough suitably qualified staff on duty to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.”
Ms Wilkes praised the trust for its outstanding rating under the ‘caring’ criteria.
She added: “We saw several examples of staff going the extra mile to ensure patients felt involved with their care. For example, one patient said staff had helped them to find a nurse specialising in Parkinson’s disease and another said staff always provided full explanations about their medications which gave them a better understanding of their condition.
“It was positive that executive board members were proactive, open and responsive to feedback and passionate about improving the organisation.
“We will monitor the trust to ensure that any necessary changes are made to keep people safe, and we will expect to see sustainable improvements the next time we inspect.”
Inspectors also found there were not always additional alarms for staff working in the wards for older people if staffing numbers increased. This meant staff could not get help quickly if there was an emergency.
In some areas, compliance with training fell below 75 per cent.
However inspectors added that senior leaders supported improvement and innovation work and “there was a strong programme of staff training”.
Anne-Maria Newham, Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare, said the trust was “absolutely delighted” to be rated as outstanding for how caring the services are.
She added: “As with any inspection, there will always be areas for improvement and we will use the findings from this recently published report to reflect on how we can continue to improve our services for patients.”
“The Trust has already begun implementing actions to address some of the issues highlighted. For example, the eradication of ‘dormitory’ accommodation has been a priority for the Trust for some time.
“The Trust recognises that dormitory style accommodation compromises patients’ privacy and dignity and does not meet the requirements of a modern mental health inpatient service or the quality of healthcare we wish to provide.
“The Trust plans to eradicate all dormitory style accommodation in the Trust by 2025/26 and the first part of this will be achieved with the opening of Sherwood Oaks in Mansfield which will be a fabulous facility for patients to receive care and for staff to work.
“The Trust acknowledges that it has not been able to make these changes as quickly as it would like, but is pleased that patients will move into this new unit next week.”
She added that the trust is experiencing difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.
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