CQC publishes report on Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust’s forensic inpatient and secure wards

Following a recent inspection, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report today on the forensic inpatient and secure wards at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust at its Fromeside site.
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Fromeside is a medium secure service that cares for people with mental illness or a personality disorder who also have a criminal history or behaviours that mean they cannot be treated in mainstream mental health services. 

CQC carried out an unannounced focused inspection of five medium secure wards at Fromeside in December, after receiving information of concern regarding the quality and safety of the service. 

Inspectors found that the service was providing safe care and that staff managed risk well. Care plans were developed following a comprehensive assessment and patients were given a range of treatments that were suitable to their needs. 

However, there were some issues with staff vacancies and with poor communication between medical and nursing staff. In addition, some care plans lacked detail regarding how a patient’s needs were met in their preferred manner. This had been recognised by management though and plans were in place to improve care planning procedures.

Full details of the inspection are given in the report published online at:  

https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RVN/inspection-summary#mhforensic  

As this was a focused inspection, CQC only looked at whether the service was safe and effective. Consequently, the service was not re-rated, so the previous rating of Good overall remains. The overall rating for the trust is Requires Improvement.