A HEALTH watchdog has told the region’s mental health trust it must improve its services more quickly.

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust’s new Devizes-based inpatient unit for people with learning disabilities was heavily criticised by the Care Quality Commission.

The Daisy Unit was rated inadequate in the trust’s latest watchdog inspection, with CQC inspectors saying there was no plan for ensuring patients could eventually be discharged from hospital.

However, the CQC praised improvements in the trust’s health-based places of safety, where those suffering a mental health crisis may be taken for assessment by a specialist team of doctors and nurses. The Swindon place of safety was temporarily closed in March in favour of an enlarged unit at Devizes’ Green Lane Hospital.

AWP was rated good for its mental health crisis services and places of safety. The CQC said safety concerns raised at their last inspection in June 2017 had been addressed and the vast majority of patients were seen within 24 hours. However, medicines were not managed consistently across the teams giving intensive mental health support and some policies on how physical health checks were completed had not yet been implemented by some teams, inspectors added.

Overall, AWP was rated as requires improvement.

Dr Paul Lelliott, deputy chief inspector of hospitals at the CQC, said: “I am disappointed at the slow progress that the trust has made in improving the quality of its services.

“This is particularly the case for the mental health admission wards for adults of working acute wards and the mental health wards for children and young people.

“In both cases, the trust had not made the improvements that we required them to make following previous inspections - particularly with respect to the safety of the ward environments.

“It is also a matter of concern that 18 months after it opened, the Daisy Unit stills lacks a sense of direction. Managers had not set out an appropriate model of care to support people with a learning disability. Staff had not received the appropriate training to ensure they could meet the needs of their patients in their care.

“The picture is a mixed one, in that the trust has made real improvements to the mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety – which are now rated as Good. Also, during our inspection, we met many staff who were committed to providing safe, compassionate care and inspectors noted an improved staff culture. Staff told us they felt supported and valued by the trust.”

In response, Dr Hayley Richards, AWP chief executive, said: “Our work to improve mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety has been recognised with the rating improving two places from inadequate to good.

“There was also clear evidence of the hard work, dedication and commitment of our staff, who work tirelessly to support those in need of our care. The inspections found our staff treat patients with compassion and kindness, respecting their privacy and dignity and supporting their individual needs. I would like to thank all our staff for their hard work and commitment to patients, service users and families in improving standards of care.

“The inspection report underlines the areas where we need to continue to improve and highlights some concerns which we take very seriously. We are not complacent and do not underestimate the work we need to do maintain confidence in our services among our local communities.

“We are committed to making the necessary changes in the right way so that we can ensure our services provide safe, effective care across the trust.”