The Deputy Chief Inspector of hospitals and the quality regulator’s lead for mental health, Dr Paul Lelliott, has written to poorly performing NHS and community mental health providers demanding action following this year’s survey of community mental healthcare, published yesterday.
The results, which are based on the views of over 13,000 people canvassed in 2016, show that the experiences of people with mental health problems, ranging from depression to psychosis, have not improved since last year.
One in three people reported that their overall experience of care was poor, rating it as six or below out of ten, which is similar to the results in 2015 (36%) and 2014 (34%).
Also 32% of those surveyed said they did not know who to contact out of office hours if they had a crisis.
Almost a quarter of those people who went on to try and contact that person or team because their condition was getting worse, and they were experiencing suicidal thoughts, self-harming behaviour, panic attacks, psychotic episodes to other behaviours that feel ‘out of control’, said that they did not get the help they needed during a mental health crisis.
This compares to 21% for 2014.
Isle of Wight NHS Trust, West London Mental Health NHS Trust, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust were the providers that performed significantly worse than others within the survey.
CQC has written to the trusts to urge them to review their results and to outline what actions they will take to address the areas of concern.
CQC will review their progress on their next planned inspections.
Dr Paul Lelliott Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals said: "There are around 1.7 million people across the country who are currently being funded by the NHS, for treatment for a mental health condition in the community funded by the NHS. These services are vital in supporting their recoveries and preventing their conditions from deteriorating.
"While the survey results highlight many positive aspects of care, I am deeply concerned by the lack of improvement overall in trusts in England.
"I am grateful for the 13,000 people who took the time to share their experiences. Providers of community mental health services must now take the time to review what they have said and to act on any areas of concern.
"People’s feedback is a vital way of identifying problems and improving care. We will check up on how these trusts are progressing during our next planned inspections."
The CQC collected the survey findings from 58 providers of mental health services in the community including specialist clinics and in peoples own homes.
CQC carries out this survey every year with the NHS and asks people for their views on aspects of their care, such as whether they felt they were treated with dignity and respect and on whether they felt involved in decisions about their care.
