Birmingham's mental health services told to improve

CQC inspectors visited a number of the trust's sites, including Northcroft

A mental health trust has been told it needs to improve its community-based services for adults.

It follows an inspection of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust sites, carried out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC said it visited following concerns about the safety and quality of care.

The trust - warned as a whole in April to improve - said it was disappointed, but was addressing the concerns.

Services for adults in the community had previously been rated good, but the CQC said it had been made aware of a number of "serious incidents", including three deaths.

It said the deaths included concerns about the monitoring of an anti-psychotic medicine.

It added the trust had responded to concerns by producing an action plan, and said inspectors would carry out follow-ups.

Amanda Lyndon, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: "We found a deterioration in how well the service was being led.

"Our experience tells us that when a service isn't well-led, this has a knock-on effect on the quality of care being received by people, which was happening here."

She also said inspectors were concerned by the systems in place to manage medicines and found the trust did not have enough staff to safely care for people.

But the CQC added the service's buildings were "clean, well-maintained and fit for purpose", and that staff had training in key skills and worked well together to help service users, advising them on how to lead healthier lives.

The trust said it accepted the findings in the CQC report and was making progress in addressing the issues.

It added it was "committed to providing the best possible care" and was encouraged the CQC had highlighted positives.