Report into Warwickshire Mental Health Services

Healthwatch Warwickshire carried out a programme of Enter and View activities focused around inpatient mental health services in November and December 2016. The purpose of the report is to share the views and experiences of Warwickshire mental health service users, their relatives and carers and staff members, and make recommendations to improve their experience of the services. The enter and view visits were split into four areas: inpatient ward visits, Have Your Say Day, outpatient visits, admission and discharge process. The visits included observation relating to facilities, as well as unstructured interviews of staff and service users, and the use of short questionnaires.

The programme of visits was set up following concerns raised locally to Healthwatch Warwickshire by service users and carers about delays in accessing services, lack of responsiveness to carers, inadequate follow up support following discharge and GPs' lack of understanding about local mental health services. It was also noted that there is a crisis in mental health service provision on a national level and several findings of a 2016 CQC report titled "Monitoring the Mental Health Act 2015/2016" were cited.

The key findings from the report include:

- Recommendations arising from observations made during the inpatient ward visits to St Michaels Hospital (5 wards) and Manor Site, Nuneaton (2 wards) - a green/amber/red rating system was used to rate each inpatient ward on each of the following areas:

Atmosphere

Decoration

Fixtures and Fittings

Furnishings

Privacy and Dignity

Storage

Cleanliness

Facilities

Flooring

Lighting

Signage

Other areas not covered

The most recommendations were made with regard to cleanliness (7) and fixture and fittings (6).

- No recommendations were made with regard to how outpatient services could be improved following the completion of questionnaires provided at Stratford Healthcare (20 people) and Manor Court Avenue (7 people).

- The positive feedback received at the "Have Your Say Day" held by Healthwatch Warwickshire at St. Michaels Hospital regarding the provision of care at the hospital. The recommendations arising from the unstructured interviews focused on increasing activities, improving the communication and involvement which relatives and carers receive, improving the management of physical health conditions, improving toilet facilities, and conducting a staff satisfaction survey.

- An agreement to work together with the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust to ensure the admission and discharge process is service user friendly.

Overall 43 recommendations were made in the report. Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust agreed to produce an action plan to address the recommendations and to meet regularly with Healthwatch Warwickshire to review progress.