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Staff shortages have contributed to some of Lancashire’s mental health services still being found to ‘require improvement’ – a year after their operator was last given the same rating by the regulator.
The Care Quality Commission says aspects of the psychiatric intensive care units and acute wards for adults of working age at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) had got better in the 12 months since they were last inspected.
However, further improvements were still needed in the areas of delivering safe and effective care, according to a report published this week – including ensuring there were enough staff to care for patients.
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The inspected domains assessing how “caring” and “responsive” the services are were once again rated as good, as was the “well-led” category, which had improved since the previous CQC visit. The overall rating for LSCFT – the mental health provider for the county – remains good.
The inspection of the two specific services deemed to require improvement took place in January in response to what the CQC says were “concerns received about serious incidents within the service”. Inspectors visited 21 wards across eight locations.
A summary of their findings in the safety category states that some aspects of the service were not always found to be achieving that aim and there was “an increased risk that people could be harmed”.
“There were high levels of staff vacancies across the service and wards were often below the required number of staff to maintain safety”, the report said.
However, the trust was found to have made improvements to ensure physical health recording took place after the administration of rapid tranquilisation and that there were risk assessments for venous thromboembolism (VTE).
On effective care, inspectors said staff assessed the mental and physical health needs of patients on admission which meant they were able to develop comprehensive care plans, which were “personalised” and in which the patients themselves were directly involved.
“Staff always supported patients to lead healthier lives. We saw outdoor activity encouraged. Staff offered activities and advice to support patients with healthy eating and to take more exercise,” the report explained.
“However, not all patients had access to a psychologist,” it added.
The CQC said patients and family members whom inspectors spoke to said they felt safe and that “most staff were kind and supportive”
The service was found to have made sufficient improvements to no longer be in breach of the regulations it had fallen foul of at the previous inspection in January 2024. However, the trust was told it must ensure it has sufficient numbers of staff and was ordered to produce an “action plan” in response to all the concerns raised.
In a statement LSCFT said it had implemented changes based on initial CQC feedback as soon as it had been received.
“It was great to hear some of the positive elements of the findings, including that patients and family members were generally positive about the service.
“The safe and effective care of our patients is of utmost importance to us and we acknowledge how staffing levels, as raised in the CQC’s report, does have an impact.
“We have been working hard to fill vacancies and address staffing shortfalls, which is a concern across the NHS and have seen an increase in people, including the recruitment of over 90 registered nurses throughout the past year within our inpatient wards and turnover is now the lowest on record.
“This does, however, remain an on-going area of focus for us.”
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