Hospital chief recommends Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust is put into special measures

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) – the independent regulator of health and social care services in England – has recommended the trust is placed into special measures after it was rated ‘inadequate’ following a month-long inspection.

The trust was last inspected between May and July 2018 when it was rated as Requires Improvement overall.

Inspectors visited the trust again from 7 January to 5 February and found areas of poor staffing, issues surrounding the reporting and handling of safeguarding matters, and processes which were not operating effectively to identify issues.

The CQC delivered an ‘inadequate’ verdict on whether the trust’s services are safe and well-led. Its mental health crisis services and wards for older people with mental health problems were both also rated ‘inadequate’, with a lack of ‘privacy and dignity’ in some units cited. The report concluded both services did not have enough staff “who knew the patients and received basic training to keep people safe from avoidable harm.”

Additionally, a summary of its acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units found “ward environments were not always safe and clean” and “staff did not always manage medicines safely”.

CQC deputy chief inspector and lead for mental health and community services, Dr Kevin Cleary, said: “We found there had been a deterioration in the trust’s services since our last inspection, with many areas previously highlighted for improvement having not been fully addressed.

“We found continuing problems with poor culture in the trust where staff felt undervalued and some care was delivered in an unsafe manner and risked patient safety.”

Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health, learning disability and substance misuse services to the people of Sheffield. They also provide GP services at practices across the city as part of the Clover Group Practices.

Dr Cleary said despite the challenges, trust bosses were “passionate and determined to make improvements, acted with integrity and were open about the difficulties they faced.”

The trust was praised for its staff’s “kind and compassionate” care and its community-based mental health services for older people.

Dr Cleary added: “We continue to review the trust, through our regular engagement and data monitoring, and we will return to inspect and check on what progress has been made at a later date.”

The trust said they were “very disappointed” with their rating and apologised.

Jan Ditheridge, the trust’s newly appointed chief executive said: “We are very sorry that our rating has fallen well below our own expected standards and those of the CQC.

“However, even in the short time I have been in post it is obvious to me that we have already improved, we will improve further and we will get back to a good rating. I base this on the fact that everywhere I go in our organisation, I find committed, caring and compassionate staff who are focused on improving standards of care for our service users, their families and carers.”