CQC finds improvements at mental health trust

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust has been rated "good"

An NHS trust which provides mental health services in Cumbria has been rated "good" by the health regulator following improvements.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust as "requiring improvement" in 2020, with concerns over waiting times and ward spaces.

The CQC has now given the trust a "good" rating after inspections in July and October last year.

The trust's executive officer, Chris Oliver, said he was "incredibly proud".

Inspectors visited all 18 wards and 15 teams across seven in-patient and five community locations across Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Improvements made by the trust included a 24-hour telephone mental health service to support people in the community, and making sure mental health crisis teams had access to specialists, according to the CQC report.

Improvements needed

The CQC also noted areas where further improvement was needed.

These included "high risk people" having to go to hospital because they could not get a bed, and "significant" waiting times in specialist community mental health services for children and young people, including access for neurodevelopmental assessments.

As well as the overall rating for the trust going from "requires improvement" to "good", how "responsive" and "well-led" the trust is has also been deemed "good".

How "safe and effective" the trust is has been rated as "requires improvement", in no change to the previous rating. Caring was also rated again as "good".

'Determination'

The trust says it had "worked hard" to carry out major improvements.

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust chief executive officer, Chris Oliver, said: “I am incredibly proud to see the years of determination, effort and improvements we have worked so hard to implement have been recognised by the CQC, which is down to our fantastic colleagues."

Sheila Grant, from the CQC, said: “We’ll continue to monitor the trust, including through future inspections, to ensure people continue to receive a good standard of care, and necessary improvements have been made in areas highlighted to the leadership team.”