Statement in response to CQC Inspection Report of Community Mental Health Teams
Deborah Partington, Chief Operating Officer at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said:
“We acknowledge the findings of the CQC’s inspection of two of our Central Manchester-based Community Mental Health Teams and will address the concerns within their report.
“Before the inspection, we were aware of the challenges faced by Central Manchester’s mental health teams and there are already plans in place to improve waiting times for service users. In line with the national picture, recruitment of registered professionals for community mental health teams is increasingly difficult and this inevitably puts pressure on the capacity of services. Therefore, we are looking at ways to make roles attractive for newly-qualified and experienced staff to want to join our teams, including supporting roles.
“The pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of our communities which has led to an increase in demand for our services and we are also seeing higher levels of mental illness which is requiring more intensive care and support. However, we have a process whereby we review, prioritise and monitor individuals who are waiting for assessment and treatment, with face to face appointments for those who are in the most urgent need of support. We are also making better use of technology and using a management and supervision tool which helps mental health professionals review key data to identify the risks of a service user going into a crisis, which is vital when working with sizeable caseloads.
“Our staff have had a very challenging two years and therefore we are delivering projects on staff health and wellbeing to support those who are at work to remain well and to help those who are off sick to return when they are recovered, as safely as possible.
“Along with our partners, we will continue to work as hard as we can to improve our services for those who need us, and we would like to reassure people that service users in our care are safe. We monitor the safety and risk of service users very carefully and prioritise those who need urgent help or a safeguarding risk. There are processes in place for service users to contact our teams when they need to, as well as a 24/7 helpline for anyone in an immediate mental health crisis.”
