England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated the services provided by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as Good following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

A team of inspectors from CQC visited Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust during August and September, to check the quality of seven of the trust’s core services. Inspectors also reviewed the management and leadership of the trust to answer the question: Is the trust well-led?

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health services and learning disability services across Cheshire and Wirral. The trust also provides community health services in West Cheshire, East Cheshire and a range of specialist services within Liverpool, Bolton, Warrington, Halton and Trafford.

The trust’s rating for caring remains Outstanding. Ratings for providing effective, responsive and well-led services are Good although safety is rated Requires Improvement.

Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector, and lead on Mental Health, said: “We found the standard of caring to be Outstanding. Staff treated people with compassion and respect and were skilled in adapting their approach to the person, and family, they were supporting, even in difficult situations. We also found Outstanding practice in children’s and young people’s services both in the hospitals and in the community

“However, we continue to have some concerns around safety. We found that record keeping and the quality of audits could be improved. We will continue to monitor the trust and return to re-inspect its service in due course, to check that improvements have been made.”

Inspectors found that good care had been sustained across most of the services inspected and people spoke positively about their care. In child and adolescent mental health wards, staff created a supportive environment for patients, working to remove any stereotyping of young people being admitted to a mental health ward. But some concerns were reported on the wards, there were gaps in some patients’ observation records, and nursing and medical reviews were not always completed in agreed timeframes.

Inspectors found the trust had made significant improvements to community health services for children and young people. Staff were highly skilled in managing people’s complex needs, tailoring their support when required. It was clear that staff knew the people they supported and found innovative ways to personalise the service and keep people engaged with their care.

Full details of the ratings, including a ratings grid, are given in the report published online at: https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RXA