Avon and Wiltshire mental health services for children upgraded to Good

Mental health services for children and young people in Bristol, North Somerset, Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire have been upgraded to good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The specialist community services, known as CAMHS, are provided by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP).

CAMHS provide assessment, advice and treatment for children and young people with severe and complex mental health problems.

The rating has gone up from requires improvement.

The trust's overall rating remains requires improvement.

What the CQC found

The CQC carried out the inspection in June to check on improvements since the last inspection.

At that inspection the trust was in breach of three regulations relating to risk assessments, long waiting lists, safe staffing and environmental concerns.

This time, the CQC found the trust had made improvements across all of these areas and was no longer in breach of regulations.

The CQC assessed the services on five areas: whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Safe and responsive have been upgraded from requires improvement to good.

Effective, caring and well-led have been rated as good again.

According to the trust, the services were previously rated requires improvement following the last inspection in 2021.

Inspectors' findings

Inspectors found:

• Staff developed bespoke packages of care for young people and worked with wider support teams to keep hospital admission rates low. For example, young people with eating disorders could access nasogastric tube feeding in the community, helping them remain at home.
• The service ensured young people on the waiting list had access to 24-hour crisis support and staff checked on them to see if their needs had changed. This meant young people whose mental health was deteriorating received support faster.
• Staff treated young people with kindness and supported them to set goals for their treatment. Families said the treatment and support had improved their young person's life.
• Staff had set up a clinic within the service to improve young people's access to blood tests, weight monitoring and ECGs (electrocardiograms). This meant they didn't need to contact GPs for these services and didn't need to wait for their results.

The CQC also found areas where the service still needs to improve:

• There was high demand for the service and families said it took a long time to secure an appointment.
• The service didn't always involve young people in planning their care and some young people hadn't seen a copy of their care plan.
• The service didn't always involve young people in planning their care and some young people hadn't seen a copy of their care plan.

It said staff offered care and treatment based on the latest best practice and treated young people with dignity and respect.

Reaction

Sarah Jones, Chief Nursing and Quality Officer at AWP, said: "We are delighted that the progress made across our CAMHS services has been recognised by the CQC. We are especially heartened to hear feedback from children, young people, and their families that the support they receive is making a positive difference in their lives.

"We know there is always more we can do, and we remain committed to listening, learning, and improving. We are excited about the work ahead as we continue to build on the progress of recent years and provide care that is responsive, effective and centred around the needs of the children and young people we support."

Michelle Cox, Clinical Director with responsibility for CAMHS, said: "This is a really pleasing report and reflects the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our teams in addressing the issues identified at our previous inspection.

"We want children, young people, and their families to help shape the services they use, and we will continue to work alongside them to understand what matters most.

"By keeping lived experience at the heart of our approach, we can continue to develop services that better meet the needs of the communities we serve."

Shane Devlin, Chief Executive of the NHS Gloucestershire and NHS Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire ICB cluster, said: "I am very pleased to see that the Care Quality Commission has upgraded the Trust's CAMHS service rating to 'Good'.

"Improving and enhancing mental health provision for local children and young people is a high priority for our health and care system and this news will be welcomed by families, parent carers and health and care professionals.

"Congratulations to the Trust and everyone involved in delivering this improvement."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.