West London NHS Trust receives new report from CQC on mental health services – EALING.NEWS – Voices of 7 Ealing Towns

A new report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) into West London NHS Trust, which provides mental health services to residents of Ealing, Hammersmith, Fulham and Hounslow, found that people who used the service were “unable to tell their stories”. It was found that “I felt that I was listened to and participated in the care.”

The CQC inspection was carried out in November 2023 and looked into the trust’s mental health Single Point of Access (SPA) service and two Crisis Assessment and Treatment Teams (CATTs).

SPA provides a 24-hour telephone triage service to refer people to mental health services. CATT supports people in a mental health crisis and the trust says it aims to support people at home instead of going to hospital.

Overall, inspectors said the visit was “effective, responsive, well-led and rated good confidence.”

The main findings from the test include:

• “People using the service felt heard and included in their care. Staff were understanding, supportive, calm, caring and friendly.”
• “Leaders had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles. They had a good understanding of the services they managed and the people and staff who appeared within and used the services. It was very approachable.”
• “The service managed the safety incident well. Staff recognized the incident and reported it appropriately. Managers investigated the incident and shared lessons learned with the whole team and the wider service. .”

CQC also said of the inspection:

• “There are still a number of facilities within the trust that are not suitable for providing modern health services.”
• “The Trust did not pay sufficient attention to the Child and Young People’s Mental Health Unit (Wells Ward) while awaiting a decision from the Commissioner and this led to a decline in standards. Immediately after the site visit concluded, we gave NHS England six months’ notice to end the contract.”

Inspectors have not re-rated the service after the latest inspection and West London NHS Trust’s overall rating remains good.

Dr Christopher Hilton, chief operating officer of community and specialist services at West London NHS Trust, said in a statement: Our mental health Single Point of Access (SPA) services and Crisis Assessment Treatment Team (CATT). ”

Dr Hilton added: “Feedback from the report was that service users felt that staff listened to them and that staff were supportive, caring and understanding. We are delighted that our inspectors have commented positively on our example of learning, improvement and innovation.” We welcome this feedback and aim to provide the highest quality of service to the West London community. We will respond promptly to recommendations. ”