Mental health trust still 'requires improvement'

A mental health trust still requires improvement in relation to its adult wards, an investigation has found.

The Care Quality Commission said it found "pockets of improvement" when it visited wards at Dorothy Pattison Hospital in Walsall but said leaders still have work to do.

The Black Country Healthcare Trust had already been told to improve its mental health inpatient services after safeguarding issues were raised following an inspection in February 2023.

The trust's chief nurse, Carolyn Green, said she recognised some improvements were needed and was pleased the inspectors had noted some improvements.

The trust's chair stood down in October after a critical report by leadership firm Xytal found distrust among staff at all levels.

This latest unannounced inspection was carried out in May 2024. The CQC apologised for the delay in publication and said it was due to a large-scale transformation programme which resulted in problems with systems.

"The amount of time taken to publish this report falls far short of what people using services and the trust should be able to expect and CQC apologises for this."

It added any immediate action would not have been affected.

The inspection was prompted by concerns raised around the management of the medical team and a poor culture where staff could not speak up.

Inspectors said this had not been substantiated.

The overall rating for the service, and the rating for how safe the service is, has again been rated as requires improvement.

The rating for how well-led the service is has improved from requires improvement to good.

Some staff had not completed mandatory training including basic life support, inspectors said. The trust said all staff were booked in to complete this.

Inspectors also found some wards to be cluttered and some areas "shabby" and "damaged".

People were allowed to smoke in garden areas which led to a "a large quantity of cigarette ends and litter" and there were also exposed sharp edges on doors which people could use to hurt themselves, the report stated.

However, inspectors found staff felt supported and listened to and were confident in raising concerns.

Andy Brand, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: "We clearly saw that Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had made improvements in how management oversaw the service since our previous report.

"However, leaders still have work to do to make changes to support the trust's caring staff with good processes and systems to support them to keep people safe and wards running effectively."

"We recognise that some improvements are needed, and we are committed to deliver these, to provide the best possible service for our patients and working environment for our staff"," Ms Green said.

She said the hospital trust is launching a new approach to 'smoke-free' in summer.

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