CQC publishes three reports about Trust services in July 2026
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published reports about three of our services following their assessment in February and March 2026.
They are:
- Adult acute wards and our Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) – the overall rating for this service has moved from good to requires improvement,
- Wards for older people with serious mental illness – the overall rating for this service has moved from good to requires improvement, and
- Long stay or rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults – which following inspection was issued with a warning notice to ensure immediate improvements were made in specific areas. This service has maintained its requires improvement rating overall.
The reports are available to read in full on the CQC’s website. They identify areas where improvements are required as well as examples of good practice and positive feedback from patients, carers and staff.
Our Chief Executive Dr Sara Munro said: “We have listened carefully to the feedback from the CQC and we’re focused on what matters most – continuing to improve the care, experience and outcomes for the people who use our services.
“We recognise the important role of the CQC in helping to drive improvement across healthcare services, and we are committed to addressing the areas where improvements are required.
“We are naturally disappointed with some of the findings in these reports, particularly where we felt additional context and evidence provided during and after the inspection could have been reflected more in the final assessments. In light of this, we will be asking the CQC to re-inspect all three services as soon as possible.
“Given the time that has passed since the CQC’s assessment, several actions to address areas for improvement have already been completed, including all the environmental issues raised at the time of inspection. We will continue to build on that progress with our staff, patients, carers and partners.
“Our staff continue to work hard every day to provide safe, compassionate and high-quality care. They are described in the reports as kind, respectful and supportive with service users feeling listened to and involved in their care.
“The reports also recognise several strengths across our services. Inspectors identified examples of positive patient experiences, person-centred care, support for recovery and discharge planning, access to advocacy and effective multidisciplinary working.
“I would like to thank our patients, carers and staff who contributed to the assessment process. Their feedback is invaluable in helping us identify both where we are doing well and where we need to improve. We remain committed to continuous improvement and to ensuring that people who use our services receive the highest quality care possible.”
Actions taken by the Trust since the assessment include:
- Strengthening governance arrangements,
- enhancing safeguarding oversight,
- improving care planning processes,
- addressing environmental concerns, and
- improving compliance with mandatory training requirements.
If anyone has concerns about their own care or the care of a loved one, we would encourage them to speak to the team providing this in the first instance or contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) so that we can understand and respond to those concerns appropriately.
Page last updated: 17th Jul 2026 10:46am