Leicestershire mental health trust pledges further improvement

The trust has failed to make all the changes it was ordered to after a 2018 inspection, the CQQ said

The chief executive of the trust running Leicestershire's mental health services has pledged improvements after it was criticised by inspectors.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) "requires improvement" after an inspection in the summer.

Two of the trust's services and its overall leadership have improved from a rating of "inadequate" in 2018.

Chief executive Angela Hillery said an overall rating of "good" was her aim.

The CQC can give four ratings from "inadequate" to "outstanding".

The watchdog said although improvements had been made, LPT had failed to make all the changes ordered following the 2018 inspection.

The inspectors found staff were walking in on patients who were changing without waiting for permission to enter their room, some staff had not completed required basic training, and patients were not always able to call for help.

Patient safety was also found to still be "inadequate" in one of its services - acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units.

In 2021, services the CQC inspected included two that had raised the most concerns in 2018, which the report for was published in 2019

In both the 2021 and 2018 inspections, the trust was given an overall rating of "requires improvement".

Talking to BBC Radio Leicester about parts of the trust that had been given a better rating, Ms Hillery said: "Whilst we are pleased with the improvement, we also recognise we need to act further to improve our services.

"Whilst it is good to go from inadequate to requires improvement, we want to get the good services overall for our population and will continually strive to do that"

In the recent 2021 inspection, the trust was rated "requires improvement" overall

The latest report also found broken windows, dirty and damaged furniture, missing curtains or blinds, and broken call bells and patient phones in some wards.

One patient claimed they had "watched a staff member walking past a distressed patient and did not seek to reassure them or ask what was wrong".

However, the inspection did find better leadership, staff feeling happier in their roles and the elimination of mixed-sex dormitories.

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