Healthwatch Isle of Wight, the Isle of Wight Youth Trust and the Leader of the Isle of Wight Council have all given their reactions to the publication of the damning Care Quality Commission (CQC) report which rates the Isle of Wight NHS Trust as ‘inadequate’.
As reported by Island Echo earlier this morning (Wednesday), the Isle of Wight NHS Trust has been deemed inadequate and unsafe and is to be put into special measures.
Healthwatch Isle of Wight – an independent consumer champion for health and social care services – have given their reaction to the news. A spokesperson has said:
“The Isle of Wight NHS Trust was inspected by the Care Quality Commission in June 2014 and was rated as requiring improvement. In response to this, the Trust acknowledged that they had “more improvement work to do”. They also stated that “The CQC have provided us with a clear view of what is required by our regulator to achieve a ‘good’ rating”.
“Just over two years later in November 2016, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust were inspected by the CQC again and it would seem that standards have fallen.
“There have been several warning signs for the Trust, including the 2016 results of the CQC survey of people who use community health services. This revealed that the Trust is one of the worst underperformers in the community mental health care survey.
“Healthwatch Isle of Wight raised concerns to the Trust in Jan 2015 around people’s experience of Isle of Wight mental health services and our update report: Adult Mental Health Services in the Community (Nov 15) made several recommendation to the Trust including the need for collaboration between mental health services and housing providers, and the need for the Trust to listen to peoples experiences of services.
“Despite their previous assurance that they had action plans in place to address all the issues identified in the 2014 CQC inspection report, it would seem that to date, these initiatives have not proved to contribute to a long term solution. It is particularly disappointing that some issues picked up by the CQC in 2014 have been reflected in their most recent report. Poor risk management and care planning in community mental health services for example, have been identified again as a continuing problem. Insufficient clinical staff in some areas of the hospital means that the safety and care of seriously ill patients is compromised.
Article continues below this advertisement “We are aware of the considerable financial constraints faced by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust and the difficulties in recruiting staff, however, this is a national problem not restricted to the Island. To put this in perspective:
• Of the 136 acute non-specialist Trusts in the UK, 6 are currently rated as outstanding by the CQC, 43 currently have a `good` rating, 78 are currently rated as requiring improvement and 9 are currently rated as inadequate.
• Of the 55 mental health Trusts, 28 are currently rated as good, 24 are currently rated as requiring improvement and 3 are currently rated as outstanding. These figures demonstrate that other Trusts who face similar problems, are able to deliver better quality services.
“Throughout the course of 2016, Healthwatch Isle of Wight has received feedback from a number of members of the public, praising the dedicated and caring staff and consultants at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, however, a number of people have also shared their experiences with us and have reported a series of failings within the care they received.
“Although we are in the unique position of having a combined Trust, The Isle of Wight NHS Trust is the only hospital based on the Island and it is in everyone’s interest to ensure that the care given to patients is consistently good and that no one falls ‘between the gaps’. Potential solutions to the difficulties faced by the Trust lie in the programme of integration between health and social care services and in the development of person centred, community based facilities.
“We are aware that the Trust is already taking action to address many of the issues identified by the CQC during their inspection in Nov 2016, but the real test will be how these actions translate into rapid and sustained improvement of patient services. Isle of Wight residents deserve a healthcare service that meets their needs, delivers the right care in the right place at the right time. This is not too much to ask and is nothing less than people deserve.
“We would urge people to contact Healthwatch IOW with their experiences of local health and social care services and we will ensure that your feedback is heard by commissioners and services providers”.
The Isle of Wight Youth Trust has raised concerns about the level of care available to young Islanders facing mental health difficulties, with today’s report revealing serious failings in mental health services, rating statutory services for young adults as ‘inadequate’ and for children ‘requires improvement’.
Youth Trust Executive Director, Mairead Healy has said:
“This report gives us a clear indication of the Care Quality Commission’s views on mental health services on the Island. It raises some serious concerns about the treatment our children and young people receive when seeking help for mental health issues. We believe the underlying message is that services are out-of-touch with the needs of young Islanders. The report suggests a lack of a young person-centred approach in the provision of mental health services and a failing to treat each young person with dignity, especially those of working age.
“This report should be a catalyst for real change and a wake-up call to all. It’s time we heard young people’s voices. We want to know directly from our young people, what are their needs and what are their experiences of accessing support in their hour of greatest need. That’s why we will be conducting an Island Youth Mental Health Census during Mental Health Awareness Week in May. This will enable us to gain a snapshot of young people’s experiences of accessing mental health services on the Island. We will be working in partnership with schools and other community providers in order to facilitate this and will be making our findings public, in the hope that it will set the tone for improvement.”
“Our children and young people deserve the best care available, and we see our work here at the Youth Trust as part of the solution. As the largest third sector provider of child and youth mental health services on the Island, we are committed to working together with the NHS to improve mental health outcomes. As an Island we face some unique problems and it is important that we work together to address these, in partnership with statutory services as well as other providers supporting our young people.
“The report is a timely reminder of the need for adequate mental health care provision, and a joined-up approach to achieving this. The Youth Trust, as an independent charity, with a history of bridging the gaps between statutory service provision and community need, is committed to working with the NHS to improve the level of care available to our children and young people. We hope that our 32 years of experience, championing the emotional well-being of under 25s on the Island, will be constructive as the NHS faces the challenges highlighted by the CQC today.”
Meanwhile, Isle of Wight Council Leader Dave Stewart has responded to the CQC report expressing his personal view that the report has revealed a totally unacceptable situation which must be addressed as soon as possible.
Councillor Stewart has said:
“I am sure every Islander will want to be re assured there is a clear plan of action in place to sort out the problems found at the hospital. Although there is also a need to establish just how the trust has found itself in thus situation now is not the time for apportioning blame, it is a time for focus on putting things right. So we must all re double our efforts to help the hospital trust sort the situation out as soon as possible.
“I can assure the Island community that if re elected as leader of the council in May I will be giving this matter ‘top priority’ and will be sitting down with health leaders to help them deal with the problems identified. At the end of the day it is all our interests for this to be done and we must all work together as professionals to ensure this is the case”.
Anyone who wishes to share their experiences (good or bad) of local health and/or care services with us can do so by ringing 01983 608608 or by emailing [email protected]
