Concern over Black Country mental health service users' safety

Care plans were not always personalised, the watchdog said

A watchdog said it "had significant concerns" about the care and safety of people using a mental health service.

Black Country Healthcare Trust's acute wards for working age adults and psychiatric intensive care unit still require improvement, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

Staff had updated risk assessments for all ward areas but the NHS trust had not "reduced" risks, it said.

The trust said it had made good progress since the inspection.

The CQC report stated five wards were looked at in June following concerns raised with the commission about the quality of care and engagement with patients.

It said care plans were not always personalised and some risk assessments had been "used from previous admissions meaning patients could be at risk".

The watchdog "found ligature risks on all wards we visited identified in ligature risk assessments that had not been mitigated".

But workers were "discreet" and respectful when dealing with people and patient safety incidents were "well-managed, and staff knew how to report these appropriately".

Employees from different disciplines worked together "as a team to benefit patients", it added.

The CQC said the trust must ensure all premises are free of potential risks and that all staff involved in patient care have access to the electronic patient record system.

The trust's overall rating remains unchanged as "good".

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Chief executive Mark Axcell said while the report highlighted areas it needed to build upon, the organisation was "pleased to see many examples of good practice highlighted".

"We have already made good progress in many areas since the visit and we look forward to showcasing these in our upcoming inspection of core services," he added.