Lincolnshire mental health trust ranked ‘good’ by inspectors

The trust which runs mental health and learning disability services in Lincolnshire has been rated “outstanding” for leadership and overall “good” by health inspectors.

The ranking is an improvement on its previous inspection, which marked the trust as ‘requires improvement’.

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust retained its rating following a visit by the Care Quality Commission in late 2018.

The trust was praised for its improvements in quality of care and a “significant decrease” in the amount of patients being seen outside of the county.

Acute mental health wards for adults and community services are now rated “good”, while mental health services for people with learning difficulties or autism have been rated “outstanding” for well-led and “good” overall.

Anne-Maria Newham, MBE, Interim Chief Executive, said: “I am extremely pleased that the hard work of all of our staff has been reflected in the CQC ratings and that all services inspected in 2018 moved from requires improvement to good.

“Our staff have a real focus on providing high quality care for our patients and this latest report is testament to that commitment.

“I am particularly proud of our outstanding well-led result. We have gone from strength to strength since our original inspection in 2015 when we were rated requires improvement overall, good in 2017 and now outstanding for well-led and good overall.

“There is a great deal we can be proud of in this report but we are not complacent and will continue to work to improve our services for patients, concentrating on the areas highlighted by the CQC.

Discovery House, Lincoln, which is run by Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

“I also wish to put on record my thanks to our staff, service users, volunteers and carers who help us by sharing their views on an ongoing basis, including giving their feedback to the CQC during the inspection.

“These views and support are crucial to us so that we can continue to improve the services we provide.”

Paul Devlin, LPFT Chair said: “The report clearly showed that our exemplary commitment to equality and diversity made a huge difference to staff who report they are proud to work for the trust and to service users who receive good quality compassionate care.

“I feel privileged to be the chair of LPFT and see the progress we’ve made which has been recognised in our Outstanding rating for well-led.

“I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to make it a possibility.”