Troubled childrens' mental health service improves

The hospital trust, which runs Birmingham Children's Hospital is responsible for the Forward Thinking mental health service

Children's mental health services run by one of the biggest trusts of its kind in England have gone from an inadequate rating to one of requires improvement.

Care Quality Commission inspectors returned to Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust after previously warning enforcement action would be taken if changes were not made.

A report, published on Friday, found some improvements, but there was still more to be done.

The trust said it welcomed the report but there was "a lot more work to do".

CQC Inspectors spoke to 13 young people who use the service

The trust is responsible for Forward Thinking Birmingham, one of the largest child and adolescent mental health services in England.

Inspectors said that although there had been improvements in how staff assessed and managed the individual risks of children and young people, managers did not always take action in a timely way.

They also found the trust had taken action since the previous inspection in 2022 to ensure premises used by the service were fit for purpose.

But it also found teams did not include or have access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients - and that despite a reduction in waiting times, the service was not always easy to access.

However, inspectors also said they found improvements in the way staff managed individual concerns about risks, and developed care plans in collaboration with families and carers.

Inspectors spoke to 13 children and young people who used the service and received mixed feedback.

One person said their care coordinator kept changing, others claimed staff were rude, while another person said there was a lack of communication.

Matt Boazman, chief executive of the trust said: "We will continue to focus on delivering the actions set out within our improvement plan, working closely with our group of experts by experience, who are helping us to shape the changes that are needed in order to provide the best possible care for our children and young people."

The trust has been given nine areas for improvement, including that it ensures it has sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of children and young people.