‘Significant progress’ has already been made after inspections identified a series of shortcomings in mental health services across Hampshire and Isle of Wight, the NHS has said.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust says it has responded ‘positively and proactively’ to findings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with councillors set to scrutinise the situation next week.
Community-based mental health services for adults of working age, mental health crisis services and the trust’s leadership have all been told they need to improve by the watchdog.
A report published on 12th March into community-based mental health services for adults of working age identified 9 breaches of regulations.
Issues included waiting list management and governance, as well as whether sufficient staff were deployed and had completed mandatory training, supervision and appraisals.
Meanwhile, a CQC inspection of mental health crisis services in September 2025 found 7 breaches.
These related to staffing, response times for urgent and very urgent mental health care, seclusion practices, direct outdoor access and the overall management of services.
A separate report into the trust’s leadership, published in July, said some staff working in mental health acute services ‘felt safety concerns were overlooked by leaders’.
Inspectors also heard that ‘unsafe admissions were affecting the wellbeing of staff’ and others on the wards.
The CQC identified a need for improvement around equality, diversity and inclusion, detailing negative experiences reported by staff with protected characteristics, including race and disability, when applying for promotion.
The Isle of Wight Council’s Adult Social Care, Public Health and Housing Needs Committee will consider the inspection reports next week as part of its health scrutiny responsibilities.
Ahead of the meeting, the NHS trust says ‘comprehensive improvement programmes’ have been established across community mental health and crisis services.
In a report to councillors, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has said:
“Significant progress has already been achieved in governance, workforce oversight, waiting list management and quality assurance.
“For community mental health services and crisis services, specific actions are underway to strengthen crisis leadership, improve patient safety while waiting, develop enhanced assessment facilities and ensure that Island services receive focused organisational attention.
“The trust remains committed to delivering sustainable improvement and will continue to provide assurance through regular monitoring, transparent reporting and engagement with local stakeholders, including the scrutiny committee.”
Councillors on the Adult Social Care, Public Health and Housing Needs Committee will meet at County Hall at 17:00 next Thursday (13th August).
