The State of Care in Mental Health Services
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) recently published its review of mental health services in England, over the period 2104 – 2017. The report found that 68% of core services provided by NHS trusts were good, with 6% rated as outstanding. Among independent services, 76% were rated as good or outstanding (72% good and 4% outstanding).
However, there are a substantial minority of NHS trust and independent services that need to improve the quality of care they provide. 39% of NHS trusts were rated as ‘requires improvement’ as at 31 May 2017, as were 23% of independent services. A very small number were rated as inadequate; one NHS trust and three independent services.
The report identifies several areas of concern:
- Concerns about ‘locked rehabilitation wards’
- Great variation between wards in how frequently staff use restrictive practices and physical restraint to deescalate challenging behaviour
- The impact of staffing shortages
- Poor quality clinical information systems
- Commissioning of crisis care services
See the full report and rating tables at the Care Quality Commission website.
For help and support around mental health issues please see our Mental Health support page.
