Avon and Wiltshire mental health trust told it is 'slow' to improve

A team of CQC inspectors visited AWP in September and October

An NHS trust providing mental health services must "make further improvements", an inspection has found.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it was "disappointed" in Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership's (AWP) "slow progress" to improve.

The CQC said AWP had not made required improvements following previous inspections "particularly with respect to the safety of ward environments".

AWP said it took the CQC's concerns "very seriously".

Inspectors visited AWP in September and October to check the quality of core services including acute wards for adults, psychiatric intensive care units and child and adolescent mental health wards.

Following this inspection they rated the trust as requiring "improvement overall" for the quality of its services.

It was rated "good" for being effective and caring, but "requires improvement" for being safe, well-led and responsive to people's needs.

'Mixed picture'

Dr Paul Lelliott, from the CQC, said it was a "mixed picture" and said the trust had made "real improvements to the mental health crisis services" and added inspectors had also "noted an improved staff culture".

But Dr Lelliott said there were concerns over the Daisy Unit, an inpatient service for people with learning disabilities, which opened 18 months ago in Devizes, and had been rated "inadequate overall" and "lacked a sense of direction".

AWP chief executive Dr Hayley Richards said the trust was "pleased that the majority of the areas assessed have remained the same or improved in their rating".

She said the report "underlined the areas where we need to continue to improve".

"We are not complacent and do not underestimate the work we need to do maintain confidence in our services among our local communities," she said.

Director of nursing Julie Kerry said AWP "fully accepted" the CQC's findings during the inspection of the Daisy Unit.

Ms Kerry said they were "taking a number of immediate actions to increase clinical expertise and input to the unit".

AWP provides mental health services across Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.