Mental Health Trust Rated ‘Inadequate’ Following Ward Safety Concerns

Mental health facilities, where personnel struggled to prevent patients from smoking and demonstrated confusion during fire alarm activations, have received a directive for “rapidly improve”. During inspections in March of acute wards for adults and psychiatric intensive care units across Greater Manchester, inspectors discovered a smoke detector obstructed by a paper towel. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has reclassified the service, operated by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, as inadequate. Salli Midgley, the trust’s chief nurse, stated that staff were “working hard” to implement improvements following the deficiencies identified by the regulatory body. Alison Chilton, representing the CQC, reported that inspectors observed fire safety as a significant concern within the wards, attributing this to inadequate fire safety training for staff and the absence of routine drills. Furthermore, oxygen cylinders were discovered to be insecurely fastened to walls in certain sections, and fire risks were “not managed well” in wards described as “not always clean or well maintained”. The watchdog’s report also noted that when a fire alarm activated during their inspection of one ward, the reaction was “uncoordinated and confused”. Inspectors also raised concerns regarding the administration of ligature risk assessments across the mental health wards and psychiatric units. Further problems identified encompassed medicine storage, insufficient training, and in certain instances, illicit drug use, leading inspectors to conclude that the service was “performing badly”. Separately, following an inspection in June, the CQC had previously reclassified the trust’s long stay and rehabilitation mental health wards to “requires improvement”, citing infection risk, fire safety, patient care, and monitoring as areas needing attention. Ms Chilton stated that the trust had been instructed to implement “rapid and significant improvements,” adding, “We will not hesitate to take further action if necessary to keep people safe.” Ms Midgley confirmed that the trust had established a new executive leadership team to spearhead improvements, emphasizing that the care and safety of patients was “our priority”.