Wiltshire Health and Care LLP told to improve by CQC

Wiltshire Health and Care LLP was inspected by the CQC in April and May

A community-based health service has been rated as requires improvement after patients were left waiting for extended periods of time.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected four core services and management and leadership provided by Wiltshire Health and Care LLP (WHC) in April and May.

WHC provide Wiltshire's NHS community services across 17 sites in the county.

Shirley-Ann Carvill, director of WHC, said the service had faced challenges.

She said she was "disappointed" by the overall rating but "pleased" some areas were rated as good.

"WHC has been impacted by similar challenges being faced across the NHS at this time, but please be assured we are all working together in WHC and in partnership with other health and care providers to continue to make improvements to deliver outstanding care for the communities we serve," she added.

Trowbridge Community Hospital offers urgent care services

WHC was previously visited by the CQC in 2017 and was given an overall rating of good.

It provides community health services for adults, community inpatient services, urgent care services and community mental health services for people with learning disabilities or autism.

It also provides a total of 92 beds at community inpatient services in Chippenham, Warminster and Savernake community hospitals, as well as urgent care services at Chippenham Community Hospital and Trowbridge Community Hospital.

Inspectors found while WHC's responses were good, safety, effectiveness, and care and leadership needed improvement.

Risks not identified

It found a plan had not been developed to address inequalities experienced by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employees, and patients were waiting for extended periods of time when they sought attention using call bells.

The report also stated inpatient risks were not identified, assessed, monitored and reviewed to reduce or remove them and records were not always accurate or complete.

However, the CQC said staff were trained to recognise abuse and took appropriate action to safeguard patients by managing incidents and accessing the correct personal protective equipment for their role.

It found a strong person-centred culture, with staff focused on enabling people to remain independent and receiving training in the skills needed to provide good care and treatment to patients.

Staff also showed patients, their families and other carers respect and actively collected feedback to help improve services.

The CQC report found a strong person-centred culture

The community mental health services for those with a learning disability or autism were also rated good overall.

According to the report, WHC must take action to bring services in line with legal requirements.

On a trust-wide level, the provider was told to ensure their delivery-plan goals were written in such a way that staff can measure their performances against them.

An action plan must also be developed to address inequalities within the workplace and to improve the experience of all staff working there.

WHC must also ensure all non-executive directors working for the organisation receive an induction.

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