The Care Quality Commission’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals is asking people in the West Midlands to tell him about the care provided by Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust at a series of events on February 12th.
England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals is urging people in the West Midlands to tell his inspectors what they think of the services provided by Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Their views and experiences will help inspectors decide what to look at when they inspect.
Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust is one of the first five mental health trusts to be inspected under radical changes being introduced by the Care Quality Commission. The formal inspection by a team including clinical experts and people who have experience of using mental health services, will start on Tuesday, 25 February.
The Chief Inspector, Professor Sir Mike Richards, announced in November that CQC is taking a new approach, to put a greater emphasis on inspecting the care that people with mental health problems receive in the community, at the same time as inspecting services for people who are admitted to hospital for assessment or treatment.
To ensure the views of patients and the local community are properly heard, the inspectors will be holding a listening event at:
6.30pm on Wednesday, 12 February at Walsall Football Club, The Banks Stadium, Bescot Cresent, Walsall, WS1 4SA.
People are being encouraged to attend the listening event to find out more about the inspection process, to tell the team about their experiences of care and to say where they would like to see improvements made in the future.
Alongside this three further drop-in sessions have been organised and will be lead by mental health commissioners as follows:
11 – 12.30pm on 12 February at Bushey Fields Hospital (Dudley)
2.30 – 4pm on 12 February at Bloxwich Hospital (Walsall)
11 – 12.30pm on 13 February at Dorothy Pattison Hospital (Walsall)
Sir Mike said, “The new inspections are designed to provide us with a clear picture of the quality of the services, exposing poor or mediocre care as well as highlighting those trusts providing good and excellent care.
“The needs of people with mental health problems run through all CQC’s work. We have recognised that we need to strengthen our approach to regulating specialist mental health services to ensure that people get care that is safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well led.
“Of course we will be talking to doctors and nurses, managers and people who use services in hospitals and in the community. But it is vital that we also hear the views of the people who have had care at Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, or anyone who wants to share information with us, to help us plan our inspection, and so focus on those things that really matter to people who depend on this service.
“This is your opportunity to tell me and my team what you think, and to make a difference to the NHS services in Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust area”
Anyone who wishes to give their views to the inspection team can do this in a number of ways:
Online: http://www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us
By email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
By letter: CQC, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA
By phone: 03000 61 61 61
Sir Mike’s inspection team will look in detail at a full range of services including acute admission wards for all age groups, psychiatric intensive care units and health-based places of safety, long stay forensic secure services, child and adolescent mental health services, services for older people including inpatient services and some community services, hospital and community services for people with learning disabilities or autism, adult community-based services including crisis services, and specialist eating disorder services.
A full report of the inspectors’ findings will be published by the Care Quality Commission.
About the Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, caring, well-led and responsive care, and we encourage care services to improve. We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.