• Organisation
  • SERVICE PROVIDER

North London NHS Foundation Trust

This is an organisation that runs the health and social care services we inspect

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings
Important: We are carrying out checks on locations registered by this provider. We will publish the reports when our checks are complete.

All Inspections

17 November 2022, 22 November 2022 and 23 November 2022

During an inspection of Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units

We carried out this unannounced inspection because, at our last inspection, we rated acute wards for adults of working age as requires improvement.

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust has 9 acute wards for adults of working age and 2 psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs). The wards are situated across two sites: Highgate Centre for Mental Health and St Pancras Hospital. During the inspection, we visited Rosewood and Sapphire Wards at St Pancras. We visited Coral (PICU), Opal and Topaz Wards at Highgate Centre for Mental Health. Rosewood and Sapphire Wards at St Pancras had 12 beds. The acute wards at Highgate had 16-17 beds. The PICU had 12 beds. Whilst our inspection activities focused on these wards, most of the data we reviewed covered all 11 wards within this core service.

The previous comprehensive inspection of this core service was in October and November 2019. At that inspection, we rated the service as requires improvement. We rated the service as ‘requires improvement’ for the domains of safe and responsive.

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust is registered to provide the following regulated activities:

  • Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983
  • Diagnostic and screening procedures
  • Treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

Our rating of acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units services improved. We rated them as good because:

  • The ward environments were safe and clean. Staff managed risk well. They minimised the use of restrictive practices, managed medicines safely and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding
  • Staff developed recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. They provided a range of treatments suitable to the needs of the patients and in line with national guidance about best practice. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided
  • The ward teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients on the wards. Managers ensured that these staff received training, supervision and appraisal. The ward staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and with those outside the ward who would have a role in providing aftercare
  • Staff understood and discharged most of their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients. They actively involved patients and families and carers in care decisions
  • The service managed beds well so that a bed was always available locally to a person who would benefit from admission and patients were discharged promptly once their condition warranted this
  • The service was well led and the governance processes ensured that ward procedures ran smoothly

However,

  • The wards did not have enough permanent nurses
  • Less than 75% of staff had completed required training in basic and intermediate life support however there were plans in place for this training to be delivered.
  • Staff did not always ensure that clinical equipment was sufficiently checked to ensure readings were accurate
  • Staff did not receive specific training to meet the needs of some of their patients, specifically patients with autism and learning disabilities although training was planned.
  • Staff did not always inform patients detained under the Mental Health Act of how the Act applied to them and their rights to appeal against detention in a timely manner
  • The trust did not have clear policies and procedures on how to address abuse towards staff.

How we carried out the inspection

During this inspection, the inspection team:

  • visited five wards, including one ward visited unannounced in the evening
  • conducted a review of the environment on each ward and observed staff supporting patients
  • spoke with four ward managers
  • spoke with 24 staff including registered nurses, support workers and activity co-ordinators
  • spoke with the director of hospital services and a Mental Health Act manager
  • spoke with 3 doctors
  • spoke with 7 patients
  • reviewed the records for 14 patients
  • reviewed the medication charts for 13 patients
  • attended handover meetings, safety huddles, multidisciplinary team meetings and a community meeting
  • reviewed other documents, performance data and policies relating to the running of the service

You can find further information about how we carry out our inspections on our website: https://www.cqc.org.uk/what-we-do/how-we-do-our-job/what-we-do-inspection.

What people who use the service say

Patients were generally positive about the service and felt safe on the wards. They said that it could be frustrating that they were unable to leave the ward whenever they wanted to but, overall, they said the service was good. Patients said that staff were caring and listened to what they said. They enjoyed activities such as reading, art, cooking and music.

Patients said that doctors were good. They were able to give their views on their care and they felt that their treatments were helping them to get better.

13 August 2020

During an inspection of Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units

We did not rate acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units at this inspection as we only visited one of the trust’s eleven wards. We visited Ruby Ward, a women’s psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU), due to concerns we received from staff and members of the public. These concerns related to staffing, management of restraint, patient violence and aggression, culture and leadership of the ward.

This was a focused inspection of safe, effective and well-led.

As this inspection took place during the Covid-19 pandemic we adapted our approach to minimise the risk of transmission to patients, staff and our inspection team. This meant that we limited the amount of time we spent on the ward to prevent cross infection. Two CQC inspectors visited the ward unannounced on 13 August 2020 during the night shift to complete essential checks. Whilst on site we wore the appropriate personal protective equipment and followed local infection control procedures. The remainder of our inspection activity was conducted off the ward. We conducted staff interviews over the telephone on 18 and 20 August 2020. We reviewed patient care records on-site, but off the ward, on 25 August 2020.

We found:

  • The service had already made improvements in relation to the concerns. In May 2020, senior leaders had developed a service improvement plan for the ward, which clearly identified what action needed to be taken to improve the safety of the ward. This plan was reviewed weekly by senior leaders and staff members from the ward. The action plan was still in progress and leaders needed to ensure recent changes made were embedded.
  • The members of staff we spoke with felt the ward had improved, although they said that it had been a challenging time on the ward due to staffing pressures and the admissions of very acutely unwell patients. Staff told us there had been many positive changes since the service improvement plan started, particularly around the safety and culture of the ward. Staff told us they now felt listened to by management.
  • The trust had improved the senior leadership on the ward. The matron provided excellent day-to-day clinical and operational leadership to staff on the ward. All staff we spoke with said the matron was very supportive and had made a positive impact on the ward. Prior to the service improvement plan in May 2020, the ward had been without adequate clinical leadership, as the ward manager was shielding due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There had been no extra leadership support for the ward and staff said they did not feel supported by management during this time. The trust needed to ensure that when the matron stepped back at the end of September 2020, that there continued to be effective and visible leadership on the ward, and that initiatives to improve team working and morale were sustained.
  • Staff had improved how they assessed and managed risks to patients and themselves. The service had recently introduced safety huddles to ensure staff felt safe on the ward and discussed what extra support patients may need to feel safe. The ward had also introduced positive behaviour support plans to help understand and manage challenging behaviours. The trust’s reducing restrictive practice lead also supported staff on the ward with de-escalating and managing challenging behaviour, including delivering training in seclusion and restrictive practice.

However:

  • The ward had faced challenges with its staffing during the Covid-19 pandemic, with staff being re-deployed elsewhere in the trust, staff off work shielding and natural staff turnover. Although the ward had enough nursing and care staff to keep patients safe and met minimum staffing levels, there was a high use of bank staff. This had put extra pressure on permanent staff members who told us they felt burnt out due to high numbers of bank staff on shift who did not know the ward or patients well and were not restraint trained so unable to assist in restraint practices. However, since the service improvement plan had been initiated, staffing on the ward had improved, and most vacancies had been filled. The trust was negotiating with NHS professionals (NHSP), which provided the wards temporary members of staff, to include restraint training as core training for all regular NHSP staff. The psychiatric emergency team available on site to respond to inpatient incidents contained all PMVA trained staff, ensuring incidents requiring restraint could be safely managed.
  • Managers had not always made sure staff were supported with regular supervision. The trust told us this was due to staffing challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this was improving and all staff we spoke with on the inspection said they had recently received supervision.

During this focused inspection, the inspection team:

- spoke with one patient (we offered to speak with all five patients on the ward, however most were too unwell to engage with us)

- interviewed 17 members of staff, including clinical support workers, registered nurses, consultant psychiatrist, reducing restrictive practice lead, the practice development lead and the matron.

- interviewed the two advocates for the ward

- looked at 5 care records

- looked at other documents relating to the running of the ward, including the service improvement plan, incident records, minutes of team meetings.

28th January 2020

During an inspection of Mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety

  • The trust had recently opened a new purpose-built centralised health-based place of safety (HBPoS) at the Highgate Mental Health Centre in Camden. This replaced the previous provision it was using in local acute hospital emergency departments. This was an improvement as the busy and noisy environments of emergency departments were not best suited to support people detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983. The purpose-built facility ensured that there was a safe, calm, clean and secure environment for people presenting to the service detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
  • In line with guidelines set out in the London HBPoS specification, the centralised HBPoS was staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There was an identified nurse in charge of the facility at all times who coordinated the admission and assessment of people detained under a Section 136.
  • Staff carried out appropriate risk assessments of every patient on admission. Medical or nursing staff carried out an initial screening of the individual as soon as possible to exclude medical causes or complicating factors and had a clear triage protocol in place. Staff understood and discharged their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
  • Staff worked closely with colleagues from other agencies such as the police, allied mental health professionals and the local acute emergency department to ensure a smooth operation of the Section 136.
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness and understood the individual needs of patients.

However:

  • The new purpose-built centralised health-based place of safety had only been open a week before our inspection. Therefore, systems and procedures were in their infancy, and the trust needed time to embed them to ensure that the unit ran smoothly.
  • Although staff worked hard to ensure that Section 136 patients were not held for longer than 24 hours, in line with the Mental Health Act Code of Practice. Out of 22 admissions to the HBPoS, two admissions had breached the 24-hour length of stay.
  • We noted some environmental issues during our inspection. However, the trust was aware of these and had plans in place to address them in a timely manner. These included identifications of blind spots in the secure communal area, computer stations posing as possible ligature risks, and a lack of a two-way communication system for the assessment suites.

01 October to 13 November 2019

During an inspection of Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units

Our rating of this service went down. We rated it as requires improvement because:

  • Staff did not always take reasonable steps to ensure physical health checks had been carried out post rapid tranquilisation administration. Staff did not always demonstrate that non-contact physical health checks had been carried out if a patient refused contact physical health checks. This was an issue that we also identified in the last inspection in December 2017. The trust planned to revise the trust’s rapid tranquilisation policy to include the need for staff to conduct non-contact physical health checks if a patient refuses. The ward managers had been instructed to closely monitor rapid tranquilisation and ensure staff followed best practice guidelines.
  • The trust had some wards on which it found it hard to recruit permanent staff, which meant that they sometimes had gaps. The trust had continued with their recruitment drive and most wards had enough nursing and medical staff to keep patients safe. Coral PICU had high registered nurse vacancies and managers could not always fill shifts with bank staff. This meant that shifts did not always have the required number of registered nurses, there was high use of bank/agency staff, one-to-one clinical supervision for staff did not always happen, and permanent registered nurses reported feeling burnt-out.
  • The trust was experiencing high demand for its acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units. When beds were not available, some patients had to be placed in beds in external hospitals in the private sector, which were sometimes out of the local area. Eight out of the eleven wards had bed occupancies rates ranging above 100% between June 2018 and May 2019. To manage high demand when local private sector beds were not available, the trust had decided that patients could be placed in temporary beds in quiet lounges on the wards. These rooms compromised patients’ privacy and dignity. The rooms were not designed as bedrooms and did not have sinks. Some opened onto the main lounge. When patients were placed in the rooms, no quiet room was available on the ward. When the temporary beds were used, extra staff would be used to provide one-to-one observation and staff completed a risk assessment and care plan to ensure the patient’s safety.
  • Some wards did not provide good environments for supporting patients. The current wards at St Pancras hospital were limited in space and did not provide a therapeutic environment for patients. Some patients on Dunkley ward had to share bedrooms. However, staff hard worked hard to try and improve the decoration of the wards. The trust was planning to build a new hospital to replace the wards.
  • Staff across the acute and PICU wards were not consistent in using the trust’s audit tool to record checks of the ward’s emergency equipment.
  • Patients had limited access to clinical psychology input. The trust had limited clinical psychology resource. Five clinical psychologists worked across the inpatient and community teams, which meant only one to two patients per ward were able to be seen. This meant many patients did not have any psychological input, which was not in line with best practice. This was a recurring issue that we identified in the last inspection in December 2017.

However:

  • The service provided safe care to most patients. The ward environments were clean and had good furnishings. Staff regularly assessed the risk within the care environment. Staff had worked hard on reducing restrictive practices, and most wards had taken part in the Safewards initiative, which looked at understanding conflict and resolution. Staff managed medicines safely, reported incidents and learned from them, and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
  • Staff assessed the physical and mental health of all patients promptly on admission. Most care plans were personalised, holistic and recovery-orientated. Staff ensured patients had access to good physical health care, including specialists as required.
  • The ward teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of patients on the wards. Managers ensured that these staff received training and appraisal. The ward staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and with those outside the ward who would have a role in providing aftercare.
  • Staff understood and discharged their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients. They actively involved patients in care decisions.
  • Staff planned for patients’ discharge, including good liaison with care managers/co-ordinators and plans for patients’ discharges were discussed each at the multidisciplinary meetings. The trust worked with local stakeholders to review barriers to patients’ discharges.
  • Staff took account of patients’ individual needs and were able to access interpreters and offer access to spiritual support. The wards were accessible to patients with physical disabilities and mobility issues.
  • The service was well-led and governance processes mostly ensured the ward procedures ran smoothly. Leaders had the skills, knowledge and experience to perform their roles, had a good understanding of the services they managed and were visible in the service and approachable for patients and staff.
  • All staff were committed to continually improving services and most wards were taking part in quality improvement projects to improve aspects of the quality of care they delivered. Some wards were taking part in national collaboratives, in reducing restrictive practices and improving sexual safety on inpatient wards.

01 October to 13 November 2019

During an inspection of Mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

  • We rated effective, caring, responsive and well led as good. We rated safe as requires improvement.
  • The service provided safe care. Clinical premises where patients were seen were safe and clean and the physical environment of crisis resolution and home treatment (CHRT) teams and Crisis House were fit for purpose. The number of patients on the caseload of the mental health crisis teams, and of individual members of staff, was not too high to prevent staff from giving each patient the time they needed. Staff assessed and managed risk well and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
  • They provided a range of treatments that were informed by best-practice guidance and suitable to the needs of the patients. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
  • The mental health crisis teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of the patients. Managers ensured that these staff received training, supervision and appraisal. Staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and with relevant services outside the organisation.
  • Staff understood and discharged their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act (1983) and the Mental Capacity Act (2005).
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness and understood the individual needs of patients. They actively involved patients and families and carers in care decisions.
  • The mental health crisis service was easy to access. Those who required urgent care were taken onto the caseload of the crisis teams. Staff completed most initial assessments within two days. Staff and managers managed the caseloads of the mental health crisis teams well. The services did not exclude patients who would have benefitted from care.
  • The service was well led, and the governance processes ensured that service procedures ran smoothly.

However:

  • The Crisis resolution and home treatment teams did not have a robust system in place to keep an audit trail for medicines in stock. Staff did not always count and record the medicines the teams had received and dispensed, which meant they may not always have an accurate oversight of the medicines for which they were responsible.
  • There were high levels of staff turnover and all the CRHT’s had vacancies. However, there was ongoing work on recruitment and retention of staff and where needed temporary staff covered vacant posts.
  • Staff working for the mental health crisis teams did not always provide copies of care plans for patients.
  • Arrangements for safe lone working needed to be strengthened further. Staff were being provided with new personal alarms to call for help if needed during a home visit. However, staff were still receiving training to use this new equipment and were not yet confident. Other arrangements to ensure safe lone working were in place such as carrying out visits in pairs where needed and maintaining a calendar of staff visits.

01 October to 13 November 2019

During an inspection of Long stay or rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

  • The service provided safe care. The ward environments were safe and clean. The wards had enough nurses and doctors. Staff assessed and managed risk well. They minimised the use of restrictive practices, managed medicines safely and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
  • Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. They provided a range of treatments suitable to the needs of the patients cared for in a mental health rehabilitation ward and in line with national guidance about best practice. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
  • The ward teams included or had access to the specialists required to meet the needs of patients on the wards. Managers ensured that these staff received training, supervision and appraisal. The ward staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and with those outside the ward who would have a role in providing aftercare.
  • Staff understood and discharged their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
  • Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of patients. They actively involved patients and families and carers in care decisions.
  • Staff planned and managed discharge well and liaised well with services that would provide aftercare. As a result, discharge was rarely delayed for other than a clinical reason.
  • The service worked to a recognised model of mental health rehabilitation. It was well led and the governance processes ensured that ward procedures ran smoothly.

01 October to 13 November 2019

During an inspection of Community-based mental health services for adults of working age

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

  • Our overall aggregated rating did not change in this inspection because we did not inspect Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. In these key questions, our ratings for from our previous inspection published in March 2018 remain unchanged. At that inspection, we rated the trust’s community-based mental health services for adults of working age as good for caring, responsive and well-led. We rated it as outstanding for effective.

However, our rating of Safe went down. We rated Safe as requires improvement because:

  • Patients identified as in need of a Mental Health Act (MHA) assessment were not always assessed promptly.

  • The number of patients on the caseloads of some teams, and of individual members of staff in these teams, was too high to allow the staff to give each patient the time they needed.

  • Nevertheless, the service provided safe care to most patients. Clinical premises where patients were seen were safe and clean. Staff managed most waiting lists well to ensure that patients who required urgent care were seen promptly. Staff assessed and managed risk well and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.

01 October to 13 November 2019

During a routine inspection

Our rating of the trust stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

  • We rated two of the core services we inspected comprehensively as good overall and one as requires improvement overall. Following the inspection, seven of the trust’s core and specialist services in the trust were rated good overall and one was rated as requires improvement overall.
  • We rated well-led for the trust overall as good.
  • There was good, effective leadership at all levels of the organisation. The trust senior leadership team was visible across the trust and modelled openness and transparency. The board and senior leadership team had set a clear strategy and staff were aware of what it was. Since the last inspection, the trust had refreshed their strategic priorities.
  • The trust worked effectively in partnership with other stakeholders across north London. It had entered a formal alliance with Barnet, Enfield and Haringey NHS Mental Health Trust, which was progressing well. It had continued to work with people using its services to develop innovative models of care. It had an excellent clinical strategy that guided its work and service developments.
  • Clinical premises where patients received care were mostly safe, clean, well equipped, well furnished, well maintained and fit for purpose. The wards at St Pancras hospital did not provide a good environment for patient care, but the trust had undertaken remedial work to address risks and had plans to build new wards.
  • The service had enough staff, who knew the patients and received statutory and mandatory training to keep patients safe from avoidable harm. The trust had worked hard to reduce its vacancies and develop new roles. Since the last inspection published in March 2018, the trust had reduced the size of the team caseloads in its mental health crisis services. Nevertheless, some teams and wards continued to have challenges with staff vacancies although temporary staff were used where needed.
  • Staff across the trust worked hard to reduce the use of restrictive interventions. Most acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units had taken part in the Safewards initiative and initial data showed reductions in restrictive interventions.
  • Staff provided care that was personalised, holistic and recovery-oriented. Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness. They respected patients’ privacy and dignity. Staff were proactive in involving families and carers in patient care, when appropriate.
  • The trust had systems in place for escalating and gaining assurance on risk. This included the corporate risk register and board assurance framework. It had appropriate arrangements in place to oversee the management of medicines, the Mental Health Act and safeguarding.
  • Services treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and learned lessons from the results, and shared these with the whole team and wider services.
  • The trust engaged positively with service users and staff. This included a wide range of co-production work. The trust was also extending the number of peer support workers. Plans were in place to develop a trust strategy for user involvement and to ensure this was embedded throughout the organisation. The trust was working to improve staff health and well-being, for which it had produced a strategy.
  • Staff had been engaged in various ways to learn, improve and innovate and were given time to do this in their day to day roles. The trust was committed to delivering a Quality Improvement (QI) programme and had invested in this across the organisation. The QI programme had flourished since the last inspection and was well embedded across the trust

However:

  • The trust was experiencing high demand for its acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units. When beds were not available, some patients had to be placed in beds in external hospitals in the private sector, which may be out of the local area, and on temporary beds that compromised their privacy and dignity.
  • Patients identified as in need of a Mental Health Act (MHA) assessment were not always assessed promptly. Staff did not complete some assessments for more than four weeks due to delays in obtaining a warrant and accessing support from the police, who only provided limited time-slots to support assessments. Staff continued to monitor patients waiting for assessments and would offer more intensive support to patients where this was possible.
  • Some community-based mental health services for adults of working age teams, and individual members of staff in these teams, had caseloads that were too high to allow the staff to give each patient the time they needed.
  • The trust was completing serious incident investigations appropriately, but it was continuing to miss the timescales. Whilst the senior leaders were aware of this and plans were being considered to establish a central team to undertake this work as part of the alliance, these improvements were not yet taking place
  • The trust had started work to meet the needs of staff and patients with protected characteristics, but more work was needed. For example, staff networks required strengthening. This work needed further promotion so that the trust could become a beacon of good practice.

04 - 07 December 2017

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Our rating of the trust improved. We rated it as good because:

  • We rated safe as requires improvement; caring, responsive and well-led as good; and effective as outstanding. Following this inspection, two of the trust’s eight services are rated as outstanding and six as good.
  • We rated well-led for the trust overall as good.
  • By applying the strict aggregation principles, the caring, responsive and well-led questions would also be rated as outstanding. However, we decided to deviate from the aggregation rules because the outstanding ratings applied to two core services and one of these, the substance misuse services, were only a small proportion of the trust’s overall services.
  • There had been a number of changes in non-executive and executive directors. They had ensured that most of the improvements identified at the previous inspection had been addressed. The trust was well-led and the senior team had an appropriate range of skills, knowledge and experience.
  • The trust had clarity about its strategic priorities and the culture it wanted to embody. An excellent clinical strategy provided clear future direction for the services delivered by the trust. This strategy drew on details of the local population and the prevalence of mental health needs. The clinical strategy had been produced with input of patients, carers, staff and governors. The clinical strategy linked with the estates redevelopment programme at St Pancras.
  • The trust promoted the use of research to improve the care and treatment of patients. There were examples of research being used to improve the care of people using the services delivered by the trust. For example, the carers of patients using the memory clinics were being offered access to a programme of psychological therapies which improved their ability to cope with the challenges of supporting a relative with dementia.
  • There were many examples of innovative models of care that were well regarded such as the practice based mental health teams in Islington. These teams had staff working in the GP premises to deliver joined up care within a primary care setting. The trust had plans to roll this model out in Camden as well. Another example was the rehabilitation services in Islington where patients with enduring mental health conditions were being supported to live more independently supported by consistent care professionals. In this example, services had been developed in partnership with the third sector.
  • The trust had made good progress in ensuring that patients also had their physical health care needs met. For adults being supported by the community recovery and rehabilitation teams, weekly physical health clinics were being developed. These had a particular focus on supporting patients who were hard to engage or not registered with a GP to ensure their physical health needs were addressed. The integrated learning disability teams supported patients to access appropriate healthcare input and worked collaboratively with GPs and the acute hospitals.
  • There were many examples of person-centred care, where staff had been thoughtful about working with patients and carers to meet their individual needs.

However:

  • The trust still faced many challenges with the recruitment and retention of staff. Whilst the recruitment of qualified nurses is a national and regional challenge, the trust had an unusually high level of vacancies for unqualified care staff. There was also an impact from this on the care being provided to patients on the acute admission wards in terms of their access to escorted leave and the time available for structured individual sessions with their named nurse.
  • At the time of the inspection, 63% of staff had completed their mandatory training. There were some significant shortfalls in staff needing to complete life support and break away training. This shortfall was as a result of the trust opening up the training to more staff and additional sessions were being provided, but this work needed to be completed.
  • Further work was needed in terms of maintaining the safety of patients when physical interventions are used. On the acute wards records of restraint did not always include details of the type of restraint used, the names of the staff involved and the length of time that staff restrained the patient. Also the acute wards did not take sufficient steps to ensure the safety of patients who had received rapid tranquilisation. Staff did not always explain to patients the importance of monitoring their respiration, heart rate or blood pressure. When patients declined checks of their vital signs after the injection, staff did not make any further attempts to carry out these observations.
  • There were significant pressures in accessing an acute bed. This was impacting on the amount of time patients were waiting at home, in acute hospital emergency departments and in health based places of safety for a bed. At the time of the inspection, 15 patients were placed in beds in the independent sector. The trust hoped that their recently opened female psychiatric intensive care unit and the further development of their community services would lead to an improvement in these demands. The trust was working well to support the timely discharge of patients.

04 - 07 December 2017

During an inspection of Community-based mental health services for older people

A summary of this service appears in the Overall summary.

04 - 07 December 2017

During an inspection of Community mental health services with learning disabilities or autism

A summary of our findings about this service appears in the Overall summary.

04 - 07 December 2017

During an inspection of Wards for older people with mental health problems

A summary of our findings about this service appears in the Overall summary.

04 - 07 December 2017

During an inspection of Substance misuse services

A summary of our findings about this service appears in the Overall summary.

04 - 07 December 2017

During an inspection of Mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety

A summary of our findings about this service appears in the Overall summary.

04 - 07 December 2017

During an inspection of Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units

A summary of this service appears in the Overall summary.

04 - 07 December 2017

During an inspection of Community-based mental health services for adults of working age

A summary of our findings about this service appears in the Overall summary.

30 August to 1 September 2017

During an inspection of Liaison psychiatry services

We did not rate this service as this was a focussed inspection.

We found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:

  • Although Camden and Islington hadengaged with the three acute trusts, the Whittington the Royal Free and UCLH, to develop a joint action plan following a serious incident involving the death of a patient, there were some areas where the actions were not fully embedded. Camden and Islington had not effectively assured themselves that necessary actions were being carried out.At the Whittington Hospital ED, the assigned acute staff did not attend to their observation duties consistently. These are responsibilities to observe patients with mental health problems who have been assessed by the liaison team as having a risk of self-harm. At the Royal Free and UCLH, security staff, rather than clinical and adequately trained staff, observed patients whilst mental health nurses were requested.

  • Camden and Islington needed to continue their work with the Whittington, to ensure the assessment rooms in the ED offered appropriate levels of privacy and provided an environment where patients could wait in comfort. There were plans to make improvements by December 2017.

  • Camden and Islington was not making improvements in response to some feedback from inspections and peer review visits. For example the provision of information about services and legal rights under the Mental Health Act 1983 and Mental Capacity act 2005 and the completion of comprehensive patient records.

However, we also found the following areas of good practice:

  • Liaison staff assessed most patients promptly within their target of one hour after they arrived at the ED.
  • At all three acute trusts, liaison staff delivered regular training sessions to acute staff working in ED to develop their knowledge of mental health patients.

22 – 26 February 2016

During an inspection of Substance misuse services

We rated substance misuse services as requires improvement because:

  • Staff did not complete and update paperwork appropriately. Assessment, mental health, physical health and safeguarding documents contained blank pages. Staff did not routinely update risk assessments when a person’s situation changed. Recovery plans did not outline goals that were holistic and addressed a variety of needs alongside drug and alcohol misuse.

  • Managers had not addressed issues with the electronic record system in a timely way. Information about risk had not transferred from the previous system in full and this made information about a client difficult to navigate. The new system was implemented in September 2015 and the issues had not been resolved in full and there was no long term plan to address this.

  • Staff did not see clients for appointments as outlined in recovery plans and did not review clients’ medication regularly. Staff did not fully complete medication records and information was missing about client allergies

  • Managers did not record specialised training completed by staff that supported them to work with this client group. Supervision records were poor quality. Managers did not record that staff were given the opportunity to discuss their individual development needs. Managers did not record training that staff had attended.

However:

  • Medical professionals assessed physical health at the start of treatment and referred people for appropriate tests prior to starting medication. Medication was stored and managed well across all services and prescriptions were stored securely.

  • Staff worked with clients in a positive and supportive way. They spoke to clients with respect and people told us that they felt safe using the service. People said they staff treated them as individuals.

  • Staff dealt well with complaints and resolved them at a local level. Managers apologised to clients when things went wrong. Staff escalated complaints to the trust complaints team if clients were unhappy with the local outcome.

22 - 26 February 2016

During an inspection of Community mental health services with learning disabilities or autism

Overall we rated community mental health services for people with learning disabilities and autism as ‘good’ because:

  • Staff undertook comprehensive assessments and developed high quality care plans. The assessment and resulting care plans were personalised and holistic and included the physical health of the patient. Staff made individualised risk assessments at the point of referral to the service, updated these regularly and developed good crisis and contingency plans for each patient. The care plans included the views of the patient.
  • Staff followed best clinical practice. They took account of guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and used a range of nationally recognised outcome tools.
  • Staff worked well as a team and were well supported by their managers. Multi-disciplinary team meetings took place on a regular basis. Staff received regular supervision and 94% of staff had attended their mandatory training; with 96% having attended safeguarding training.
  • The service managed referrals and allocations well. There was a single point of referral, all teams met the target for maximum waiting times and a senior nurse monitored the caseloads for each member of staff. Caseloads ranged from eight to 24 patients.
  • Patients and carers had a positive experience of care. Staff treated patients with care, compassion and communicated well. The service ensured that patients and their carers know how to make a complaint. Information leaflets were available in both easy to read and standard formats.
  • Staff described the electronic system to report incidents and their role in the reporting process.

However:

  • Staff reported that they did not have access to lone worker devices.
  • There were two electronic recording systems in operation in each team that did not link to each other at all, meaning that information may be entered twice on some occasions or being recorded on one system but not the other. Protocols were in place to address this issue.

22-26 February 2016

During a routine inspection

When aggregating ratings, our inspection teams follow a set of principles to ensure consistent decisions. The principles will normally apply but will be balanced by inspection teams using their discretion and professional judgement in the light of all of the available evidence.

  • It is our view that the trust needs to take steps to improve the quality of their services and we find that they were in breach of three regulations. We issued three requirement notices which outline the breaches and require the trust to take action to address. We will be working with them to agree an action plan to assist them in improving the standards of care and treatment.

We found that the trust was performing at a level which led to a rating of requires improvement because:

  • We rated mental health crisis services and health based places of safety as inadequate. We rated acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units, long stay/rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults, community-based mental health services for adults of working age, and substance misuse services as requires improvement. We rated wards for older people with mental health problems, community-based mental health services for older people, and community mental health services for people with a learning disability or autism as good overall.
  • There were a number of concerns about environments. In the health based places of safety the environment was not suitable. Patients in the health based place of safety at the accident and emergency department in the Royal Free hospital had to walk past other cubicles to use the toilet. The premises did not meet the guidance in the Mental Health Act code of practice or from the Royal College of Psychiatrist’s. The toilet also had ligature points in which could be used by a patient to self harm. The places of safety were housed in the acute hospital and were cleaned by their staff but the trust had not ensured the environment was clean and well maintained. Facilities at two of the three health based places of safety did not promote dignity, recovery, comfort or confidentiality for people using this service
  • We received limited assurance about safety. For example we identified ligature points in wards which had not been removed or measures put in place to mitigate risks. In some wards staff could not see all parts of the ward, there were blind spots and no mirrors to mitigate risk. Three staff on Garnet ward did not know where the ligature cutters (equipment to cut safely through materials used to self harm) were kept, other wards did not have any ligature cutters. There were multiple ligature points at St Pancras Hospital. The trust had completed ligature risk assessments; however, these did not always contain plans for how staff could manage these risks. At the Highgate Mental Health Unit, we found one ward had identified a new fitting as a ligature risk in an assessment, but other wards had not identified the same problem. Therefore, other wards had no plan in place to manage this risk and staff were unaware of it. The service had breached the eliminating mixed sex accommodation guidance at Highview, there were five bedrooms on the second floor, four used by females and one by a male, there was evidence that this male had used the female facilities on that floor. The trust had not completed urgent repairs on three wards, at St Pancras, in a timely manner.
  • Safeguarding was not always given sufficient priority. Safeguarding referrals for other services within the trust was being processed through community based adult mental health teams. The safeguarding referrals were being sent to email addresses within the community based mental health teams where the service was operating nine to five office hours. This meant referrals made out of hours were not being seen until the next working day. Staff were unclear how to make a safeguarding referral out of hours or at weekends. Staff did not always record safeguarding information appropriately and clearly.
  • Record keeping was disorganised in paper files which meant information was difficult to find and could lead to key information being missed. Confidentiality was breached in some teams where patient names on files in the office could be seen by others. Staff had not stored hard copy care plans and legal documents effectively. Some care plans were not person centred or holistic. Patients had not signed their care plans because care plans were completed electronically separately from the patient appointment. Staff did not always clearly document the level of involvement of patients in their care plan or reasons why patients had not been involved. Some patients had not signed their care plan to indicate agreement with it. There were gaps in records. In the learning disabilities service there were two electronic recording systems in operation in each team that did not link to each other at all, meaning that information may be entered twice on some occasions or being recorded on one system but not the other. In order to address this, the teams had a protocol that identified their social care system as their primary record where all information should routinely be stored, with defined information being up loaded to the trust system when the patient was in hospital or at risk of going into hospital.
  • In some services compliance with mandatory training for the service was below the trust target of 80%. In community adult services staff mandatory training rate was low, especially for safeguarding children training, safeguarding adults training and Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards training. This meant there was a risk staff were not trained sufficiently.
  • Compliance for Mental Health Act (MHA) and Mental Capacity Act (MCA) training were low with some staff not receiving any training at all in MHA or MCA. Some staff were not aware of their responsibilities under the MHA and MCA. The trust set a target of 80% for mandatory training.
  • Waiting times in some services were long. The waiting time for psychological support with the complex depression, anxiety and trauma service (CDAT) was one year. The assessment and advice team had a waiting list for routine referrals to be seen for an initial assessment of five weeks. North Camden recovery team had a patient waiting list for therapy of nine months, the personality disorder service had a waiting list to be allocated to a care coordinator of 16 weeks and a 12 month wait for therapy.
  • The arrangements for governance and performance management did not always operate effectively. The leadership, governance and culture did not always support the delivery of high quality person-centred care.

However:

  • We observed staff interactions with service users and their families in a variety of settings, found that they were responsive, respectful, and provided appropriate practical and emotional support. Staff were committed to working in partnership with people to ensure that the service users felt supported and safe. Staff supported families and carers to be involved in the service users’ care. Staff offered families and carers access to psychological therapies.
  • Some wards were safe, visibly clean and well maintained. Clinical areas and ward environments were bright, airy and hygienic. Furnishings were of good quality and homely. Up to date cleaning records showed that the wards were cleaned regularly.Handrails helped patients to maintain their balance while walking around the wards. There were wheelchairs and bathing facilities specific to the needs of older frail people. The clinic rooms were fully equipped. Resuscitation equipment was accessible and regularly checked. Nurse call bells were in every bedroom, bathroom and communal area. Staff carried alarms to summon help.
  • Some services managed risks to patients well. There were clear lines of sight from the nursing offices. Where there were blind spots, a convex mirror was used to help staff observe the ward. There was a robust policy on the use of patient observations in place. Environmental ligature points (fittings to which patients intent on self-injury might tie something to harm themselves) were mostly addressed and the trust was taking steps to mitigate the risks from these by using the guidance of the trust observation policy.
  • Care plans in some services were personalised including patients’ views and staff wrote them in a way which met the patients’ needs. Patients had individualised risk assessments which had been commenced at the point of referral to the service and regularly updated thereafter. There were some good examples of crisis and contingency plans for each patient. Physical healthcare needs were identified and monitored during treatment. Staff used the ‘Modified early warning signs’ tool to monitor and assess physical health. Falls prevention plans were in place, all inpatient wards used the ‘Fallstop’ guidance. Pressure ulcer care was led by a tissue viability nurse.
  • There was rapid access to a psychiatrist when needed, and teams included staff from different disciplines with varied skill bases. Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for prescribing were being followed in all teams. There was an audit programme to monitor adherence to NICE guidance. A range of nationally recognised outcome tools were used.
  • Across the trust some teams used a balanced scorecard to monitor performance and quality of care. Some teams had a local risk register to identify and mitigate risks. Patients generally knew how to complain and complaints were logged. Learning from complaints was shared in team meetings in some teams.
  • Staff said that they felt supported by senior managers. Ward managers said they had authority to make changes to the ward staffing levels when needed. Ward Managers engaged well with their staff. Staff said they felt supported to raise concerns without fear of victimisation and told us that morale and job satisfaction was good.

22 – 26 February 2016

During an inspection of Mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety

We rated mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety as inadequate because:

  • Staff working in and emergency departments had repeatedly raised concerns regarding the provision of this service, but no action had been taken to address the concerns. Facilities at two of the three health based places of safety did not promote dignity, recovery, comfort or confidentiality for people using this service. There were significant safety issues at all of the health based places of safety and they did not meet the Royal College of Psychiatrist’s guidance.

  • The health based places of safety were not clean or well maintained.

  • Emergency equipment checks were not available in all areas for us to look at what staff checked and how often. We found essential emergency equipment was not present or had perished. Staff told us they checked the defibrillator was present, but did not check that it was functional.

  • Staff did not copy crisis plans on to the electronic system. There was no clear record to show whether the person using the service had been involved in developing the plan or whether they had a copy of the plan.

  • Staff did not show a clear understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and consent to treatment was not clearly documented in people’s records.

  • Frontline staff told us they did not receive feedback from incidents.

  • Governance arrangements were not in place locally to support the quality, performance and risk management of the services.

  • Staff reported feeling under pressure because services were short staffed.

However:

  • There was rapid access to a psychiatrist.

  • Teams included staff from different disciplines with varied skill bases.

  • Interventions included support for housing, employment and benefits. Patients had access to a range of psychological therapies.

  • Some patients told us they felt understood and listened to by staff and never had to repeat information to them.

  • Patients knew how to complain.

  • We saw evidence of staff proactively trying to engage people who were avoiding contact with the service.

  • Senior staff used balance score cards to monitor service performance and outcomes.

  • Staff felt able to raise concerns without fear of victimisation.

  • Staff told us they worked well together within their teams.

22-26 February 2016

During an inspection of Community-based mental health services for adults of working age

We rated community-based mental health services for adults of working age overall as requires improvement because:

  • Staff mandatory training rate was low, especially for safeguarding children training, safeguarding adults training and Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) training.

  • Staff did not adhere to the trust’s lone working policy. Some staff did not have work mobile phones to use whilst on home visits and some staff did not call the office to check in with a duty worker.

  • We saw medication and sharps disposal boxes transported in handbags, which is not in line with the trust’s policy.

  • Some teams were not following trust processes to ensure that staff received feedback about learning from incidents.

  • There were no systems in place to monitor patient’s physical healthcare needs when they were prescribed high dose antipsychotics and lithium.

  • There was no standardised approach to supervision. We saw electronic and paper records which used different note taking templates.

  • There was no emergency equipment available at any of the sites visited.

  • Some care plans were not holistic, personalised or person centred.

However:

  • All services reported rapid access to a consultant psychiatrist when required.

  • Risk assessments were thorough and comprehensive and were updated following an incident.

  • Staff were supported and de-briefed following an incident.

  • Comprehensive assessments were completed in a timely manner.

  • Staff worked closely with external agencies such as crisis teams, inpatient wards, the police and adult social care.

  • Staff were caring, professional and treated patients with dignity and respect.

22 - 26 February 2016

During an inspection of Wards for older people with mental health problems

Overall we rated wards for older people with mental health problems as ‘goodbecause:

  • The wards were safe, visibly clean and well maintained. Clinical areas and ward environments were bright, airy and hygienic. Furnishings were of good quality and homely. Up to date cleaning records showed that the wards were cleaned regularly. Handrails helped patients to maintain their balance while walking around the wards. There were wheelchairs and bathing facilities specific to the needs of older frail people. The clinic rooms were fully equipped. Resuscitation equipment was accessible and regularly checked. Nurse call bells were in every bedroom, bathroom and communal area. Staff carried alarms to summon help.

  • The provider managed risks to patients well on both wards. There were clear lines of sight from the nursing offices. Where there were blind spots, a convex mirror was used to help staff observe the ward. There was a robust policy on the use of patient observations in place. Environmental ligature points (fittings to which patients intent on self-injury might tie something to harm themselves) were mostly addressed and the provider was taking steps to mitigate the risks from these by using the guidance of the trust observation policy.

  • Both wards met the Department of Health guidance and Mental Health Act 1983 Code of Practice in relation to the arrangements for mixed sex accommodation.There was a female only lounge on each ward. Every bedroom had its own basin, shower and toilet. Continence equipment was available.

  • The wards supported patient recovery. There were easy read signs at eye level height that used both words and symbols. The dining rooms were spacious and welcoming and encouraged people to talk to each other. There were menu options that included the needs of a culturally diverse group of patients. Food was available in pureed, finger and other forms to meet patient need. Mealtimes were protected from distracting ward activities such as medicine rounds and meetings.

  • Care records included comprehensive assessments and care plans. Falls prevention plans were in place, both wards used the ‘Fallstop’ guidance. Pressure ulcer care was led by a tissue viability nurse. Staff used the ‘Modified Early Warning Signs’ tool to monitor and assess physical health. There was secure and easily accessible patient information stored on electronic systems. Learning from incidents was shared at handovers and team meetings.

  • Managers and clinical staff engaged well with patients and carers. Staff spoke kindly with patients and responded to patient needs with discretion and respect. Carers told us they were supported and welcomed onto the wards. Staff knew what potential abuse was and what to do if they had any safeguarding concerns.

  • Ward Managers engaged well with their staff. Staff felt supported to raise concerns without fear of victimisation and told us that morale and job satisfaction was good. Staff had regular supervision and an annual appraisal. The ward managers had sufficient authority to run the ward and administrative support to help them. Staff were provided with opportunities for leadership training at ward management level and staff sickness and absence rates were low.

However:

  • Staff told us that more staff were needed. There was an unfilled psychology post.

  • Staff said they did not know much about the most senior trust managers.

  • Some staff did not know where the ligature cutters (equipment to cut safely through materials used to self harm) were kept.

  • Some patients said that the behaviours of other patients at times made them feel unsafe.

On Garnet ward;

  • Tablet crushers were found with residue from previous medications. Four more sets of tablet crushers were immediately ordered.

  • Patient names could be identified on the spines of files from outside the nursing station.

On Pearl ward;

  • Some patients said staff occasionally responded to them in ways that were not helpful or kind.

  • The clinic room and fridge temperature records showed gaps in recording, the worst being a week of no monitoring between 15 February 2016 and 22 February 2016.

  • Compression stockings prescribed from 21 January 2016 were marked as unavailable. No alternative had been provided.

22 -26 February 2016

During an inspection of Community-based mental health services for older people

We rated Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust Community-based mental health services for older people as good because:

  • Most staff completed a risk assessment of every patient at the beginning of treatment and updated them regularly. Care records reviewed all contained up to date, personalised, holistic, recovery-oriented care plans.
  • All care records reviewed all contained up to date, personalised, holistic, recovery-oriented care plans.
  • Staff followed National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance when prescribing medication. Service users within the Camden team had a least two NICE informed interventions on their care plans which included psychological interventions.
  • We observed staff interactions with service users and their families in a variety of settings, found that they were responsive, respectful, and provided appropriate practical and emotional support. Staff were committed to working in partnership with people to ensure that the service users felt supported and safe.
  • Staff supported families and carers to be involved in the service users’ care. Staff offered families and carers' access to psychological therapies.
  • Staff were committed to improving the service by participating in research. They had been innovative in implementing a ‘brain food’ group that was making a positive difference to service users.
  • Staff assessed and recorded a person’s capacity to consent following every appointment.
  • Team managers assessed and managed caseloads to ensure that all service users were allocated care co-ordinators.
  • Team managers had recruited to all qualified nursing posts.They were actively recruiting to fill other vacancies within the multidisciplinary team.
  • A duty team was in place across the service to monitor the waiting list. Staff monitored the waiting list to detect service users’ increase in risk or to respond promptly to a sudden deterioration in their health.
  • The provider used balance score cards to gauge the performance of the team. The scorecards were available in an accessible format.
  • Team managers had a risk register for the service, which they completed and monitored in monthly senior management meetings.
  • Across the service, there was 100% compliance for staff attending monthly clinical and managerial supervision.
  • Staff reported that they enjoyed their roles and that morale within the team was good.

However

  • The recovery team did not update risk assessments when service users were admitted to the service.
  • No compliance rates were available for Mental Health Act training.
  • Only 34% of staff had completed training in the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

22 – 26 February 2016

During an inspection of Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units

We rated acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units as requires improvement because:

  • The trust delivered acute inpatient services over two sites, Highgate Mental Health Unit and St Pancras Hospital. We found extensive differences between the two environments. Wards at Highgate Mental Health Unit had recently been refurbished. The trust had not completed similar work at St Pancras Hospital, where wards remained in need of refurbishment and updating. Some patient care areas were unhygienic, for example on Laffan ward, we saw dust on surface areas and a ball of human hair on the nurses’ office floor. We found items at St Pancras Hospital that posed a risk to patient safety. For example, plastic leaflet holders with sharp edges and a brick attached to a bench in an outside courtyard, which could be used as a weapon. We found damage to patient areas at both sites, which the trust had not repaired.

  • There were multiple ligature points at St Pancras Hospital. A ligature is a fixed item to which a person could tie something for the purpose of self-strangulation. The trust had completed ligature risk assessments. However, these did not always contain plans for how staff could manage these risks. Wards on this site had multiple blind spots from where staff could not easily observe patients.

  • At the Highgate Mental Health Unit, we found improvements to all patient care areas.

  • The staff duty rotas showed high reliance upon the use of bank and agency staff. When bank or agency staff could not be booked, the wards were short of staff. Staff and patients told us this had a negative impact on patient care and access to outside space.

  • Staff had not completed regular checks of emergency equipment on two wards. Staff could not be sure that the equipment was fit for use in an emergency. One ward had not replaced defibrillator pads following an incident.

  • The trust operated a non-smoking policy. However, at the Highgate Mental Health Centre we found extensive evidence of patients smoking in the courtyard. We found a can of lighter fuel hidden in bushes and a strong smell of cigarette smoke in one of the bedroom corridors.

  • The trust required staff to complete mandatory training and average compliance was low at 66%. A total of 26% of staff had completed safeguarding children training and 39% were compliant with training on the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA). The Care Quality Commission had highlighted poor staff awareness and low compliance with training in the MCA in previous inspections, which the trust was required to address.

  • The trust had a process for reporting safeguarding concerns but staff did not routinely raise concerns directly to the local authority and were unclear how this process would be actioned out of hours or at weekends.

  • On the psychiatric intensive care unit, records showed that medical staff were not completing medical reviews for patients in seclusion in line with the revised Mental Health Act Code of Practice. We noted that the trust seclusion policy was dated December 2014, which pre-dated the revised code. The trust had not ensured that patients were provided with required safeguards in accordance with the MHA Code of Practice.

  • The trust did not offer mandatory Mental Health Act or Code of Practice training for staff. Staff did not always inform patients of their rights under section 132 in a timely manner did not routinely refer or encourage patients to access independent mental health advocacy services. Staff did not always document patients’ capacity to consent to treatment prior to first administration of medication and some capacity assessments contained contradictory information. Medical staff did not always fully complete patient leave forms to indicate terms of leave or to whom they had given copies.

  • The quality of care plans was variable. We found little evidence of patient involvement and many care plans did not include the full range of patients’ problems and needs, or considered discharge planning.

  • The trust provided data, which showed 53% of non-clinical staff had received an appraisal over the past 12 months. This was below the trust’s overall achievement at 72%.

  • The trust had no female psychiatric intensive care (PICU) beds. Female patients who required a PICU bed were admitted to beds outside of their local area. The trust also placed patients out of area when no local beds were available on the acute wards. This meant patients could potentially be placed far away from their local area, making contact with friends and family more difficult.

    However:

  • The trust had completed extensive refurbishment work at Highgate Mental Health Unit, which had improved the patient care areas and reduced ligature risks. Lines of sight were good and the environments were clean and airy. There were ample rooms available for care and treatment.

  • The trust had recruited qualified staff to vacancies. The wards had a range of staff to deliver care and treatment to patients. The trust tried to ensure they used regular bank and agency staff to promote continuity of care for patients. When bank or agency staff could not be booked, the wards were short of staff. Staff and patients told us this had a negative impact on patient care and access to outside space.

  • Practices were in place to ensure infection control and staff had access to protective personal equipment such as gloves and aprons.

  • We observed good interaction between the ward staff and medical teams on the wards. Medical cover was available day and night and a psychiatrist could attend wards in an emergency.

  • Staff were skilled in verbal de-escalation to manage disturbed behaviour. The training delivered reflected the Department of Health principals of Positive and Proactive Care (2014).

  • Medical staff prescribed rapid tranquilisation in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellent (NICE) guidelines.

  • There were good medicines management processes and clinic rooms were clean and tidy. Good systems were in place for reporting and recording incidents and complaints.

  • Staff were professional and respectful. Most patients told us staff were caring. Staff showed a good understanding of the care and treatment needs of patients and we observed good interactions between patients and staff.

  • Staff reported being well supported by their managers and managers were visible on the wards.

22 -26 February 2016

During an inspection of Long stay or rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults

We rated rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults as requires improvement overall because:

  • There was breach of the guidance on single sex accommodation at Highview and154 Camden Road. 154 Camden Road did not have a dedicated female lounge. Staff managed this by offering the use of a therapy room for female patients. Staff could not observe all areas of the wards to maintain patient and staff safety. The provider had mitigated risk and promoted observation by installing mirrors on Malachite ward. However, 154 Camden Road, Sutherland ward and Montague ward did not have mirrors in place.
  • Staff on Montague ward had not received an annual appraisal.
  • There was poor ligature management at Aberdeen Park and no ligature cutters at Aberdeen Park or Highview.
  • The managers at Aberdeen Park and Highview did not clearly understand their responsibilities under the Mental Health Act. Staff had not received adequate training on the Mental Health Act code of practice. Records did not show that residents had their rights regularly explained to them when subject to a community treatment order (CTO). Recording of assessment of capacity to consent to treatment was variable. There was no evidence of any section 117 aftercare planning. Eligible patients told us that they were unaware of their right to access independent mental health advocate (IMHA). We found minimal evidence that consent to treatment forms had been completed. There was no effective system in place for storing legal documents.
  • Storing of other information was disorganised and not easily accessible and medicines management required improvement.
  • There were several staff vacancies at Highview and Aberdeen Park and no effective measures in place to cover long-term staff absences.
  • There were no alarms in the bathrooms or bedrooms at Highview or Aberdeen Park.

However:

  • The wards at St Pancras, Highgate and 154 Camden Road were mostly clean and comfortable. There was a range of rooms and each patient had their own ensuite bedroom which they were able to personalise. The wards had access to outside space. Snacks and hot and cold drinks were available throughout the day. Clinic rooms were equipped with accessible resuscitation equipment and emergency drugs. We saw evidence that staff regularly checked equipment and kept a record of this.
  • Patients received care and treatment from a range of professionals including nurses, doctors, psychologists, activity coordinators, occupational therapists and pharmacists. Staff regularly monitored the physical healthcare of patients and recorded this in the care record appropriately. Patients told us that they usually felt safe on the wards and that staff treated them with respect. Each ward had printed information to give to patients about what to expect during their stay. This included visiting times, policy for the use of mobile telephones, mealtimes and access to the internet.
  • Staff said that they felt supported by senior managers. Ward managers said they had authority to make changes to the ward staffing levels when needed. Ward managers engaged well with their staff. Staff felt supported to raise concerns without fear of victimisation and told us that morale and job satisfaction was good.
  • Staff at Highview and Aberdeen Park were aware of their responsibilities of identifying safeguarding concerns and there were effective processes in both for both reporting and learning from safeguards. Patients had individualised risk assessments, crisis and relapse plans. Patient reviews included both physical and mental health needs and staff said that multidisciplinary meeting were patient focused and effective.

12 - 13 August 2015

During an inspection of Community-based mental health services for adults of working age

We have not rated this service, as we only do this once we have completed a comprehensive inspection. We did not rate the trust following its comprehensive inspection in May 2014 because it was part of a pilot. We will rate the service following its next comprehensive inspection.

We found that the trust had made good progress in ensuring staff working in the community service had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act. Although there was still some teams where the learning was not fully embedded, the trust was now meeting this standard.

We also found that

  • Risks to service users were monitored through multidisciplinary meetings and service users requiring extra support were effectively identified. Most records showed good assessment and care planning, although some records were not always accurate or fully up-to-date.
  • Most staff felt confident in being able to raise concerns, although some staff told us they would be less confident. Learning regarding incidents took place at a local team level.
  • Most staff had received regular formal supervision and were finding this helpful. Supervision levels recorded in the Early Intervention service were lower.
  • People using the service felt respected by staff. The majority described the staff as caring and friendly.

However

  • Staff morale in North Camden Recovery and Rehabilitation Team was low. Staff were concerned with the size of their caseloads.
  • Staff had not always recorded that they had checked fridge and clinic room temperatures at all sites.

3 August 2015

During an inspection of Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units

We have not rated this service, as we only do this once we have completed a comprehensive inspection. We did not rate the trust following its comprehensive inspection in May 2014 because it was part of a pilot. We will rate the service following its next comprehensive inspection.

Progress had been made since the previous inspection. The ward environment improvement programme was in progress and work had been undertaken to improve staff knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Continued work was required to ensure this work was completed. The trust now has a block contract for 16 beds with another NHS provider.  This had reduced the pressure on the bed management.  Patient moves between wards had been reduced.

We found that:

  • The service had a high number of staff vacancies. Shifts were covered by bank and agency staff.
  • Two of the three wards had interim ward managers in post whilst recruitment to permanent posts was underway. A permanent ward manager was in post on the third ward, having joined the trust three weeks prior to the inspection.
  • Supervision structures were not embedded and staff were not receiving supervision on a regular basis.
  • The quality of risk assessment was variable.
  • There was variation in the application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Appropriate and decision specific capacity assessments were not always being completed.
  • The service had not ensured that the capacity of patients to consent to decisions was appropriately assessed in all cases. Some patients had not had their capacity to consent to a specific decision assessed.

However

  • Feedback from patients was positive about the quality of the care they received.
  • We observed kind, caring interactions between staff and patients.
  • There was a range of activities taking place for patients to participate in.
  • The service had a comprehensive multi-disciplinary team. Staff from all backgrounds felt they were able to input into the development of plans for patients.
  • There was a good response to recruitment campaigns with 21 newly qualified nurses appointed and ready to begin in September 2015. Further interviews were planned for qualified staff.
  • A number of the wards had been refurbished to address ligature risks that had been identified on previous inspections. The ligature works had been completed to planned timescales to date, and are due for completion across the trust by February 2016.
  • The ward environments were clean.

27-30 May 2014

During an inspection of Adult community-based services

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust adult community-based services provide assessments and support services for adults coming into contact with mental health services for the first time. They also provide services for people who have complex depression, anxiety, trauma and personality disorder needs and require longer term support.

The adult community-based services provided a good service. There was visible leadership in all the services we visited and the staff had a clear sense of the vision of the service and how this was going to be achieved. There were also good systems in place for supporting staff, for example through individual and group supervision sessions, team meetings and daily briefings.

We saw good use of best practice and clinical guidelines in both the personality disorder and complex depression, anxiety and trauma services. This meant that people received a service that was supported by evidence and research. People who use the service felt that the staff understood their needs and worked together with them. Staff and people valued having a service user representative employed by the trust, although this role was only present in the personality disorder services.

There were a number of areas where the service should make improvements. This included training staff in areas relevant to their work, such as the Mental Capacity Act 2005 or training to support people whose behaviour is challenging, or when to use physical interventions.

27-30 May 2014

During an inspection of Mental health crisis services and health-based places of safety

Camden and Islington NHS foundation Trust provides community-based crisis services to people in the boroughs of Camden and Islington. The service is provided by three teams: Islington crisis resolution and home treatment team, South Camden crisis resolution and home treatment team and North Camden crisis resolution and home treatment team. The teams provide access to crisis care in the community, home treatment to those in crisis and gate-keep admissions to trust inpatient beds.

The community-based crisis services provided a good service. The teams had clear processes in place to make sure that people using the service were safe. When incidents occurred, these were investigated and learning identified. The service was also working to improve its processes for managing medicines.

The service provides support 24-hours a day, seven days a week. There were appropriate assessments undertaken and people were supported by multidisciplinary teams.

Most staff felt supported in their roles and received regular supervision.

Feedback from people using the service was mostly very positive and they told us they felt that staff were caring. However, we found that staff had a poor understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and that assessments of capacity were not detailed enough.

The teams’ performance was assessed, but people’s feedback was not analysed on an ongoing basis to make sure that themes were identified.

27-30 May 2014

During an inspection of Wards for people with learning disabilities or autism

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust provides learning disabilities through its two community teams: Camden learning disabilities service (CLDS) and the Islington learning disabilities partnership (ILDP). There are also four nominal beds on Dunkley Ward at St Pancras Hospital. This is a 16-bed ward for people with a mental illness. However, if a bed is not available on Dunkley Ward, then the person will be admitted to another acute inpatient ward in the trust. This report specifically looks at the care of people with learning disabilities. Other issues relating to the acute ward are addressed in the report for acute admission wards.

We found that the services for people with a learning disability and autism were good.

Treatment and support was provided in the community by multidisciplinary teams that were integrated between health and social services. This meant that staff had effective working relationships, which benefited people using the service. There was a single point of referral to the community teams. After referral, staff completed an assessment and developed a care plan for each person.

People who needed hospital treatment were admitted to an acute mental health ward. In order to promote continuity of care, one ward (Dunkley Ward) was nominated to admit people with a learning disability. However, people were also sent to other wards in the hospital and were moved between wards. Although hospital staff had received little formal training, we saw that they understood about working with people with a learning disability. Staff from the community teams continued to provide treatment and support to people when they were in hospital.

Staff were person-centred, and discussed and reviewed people’s care and treatment with them. Information was discussed with, and provided to, people in an accessible way. This included the use of pictures and easy-to-read materials.          

27-30 May 2014

During an inspection of Services for older people

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust provides care and treatment and for older people who may have a functional mental health illness, such as depression and anxiety, and/or people who have organic mental health illness, such as dementia. The community-based services provide a range of services such as memory assessment and treatment, care home liaison services, dementia signposting and community recovery services. People may also have physical health problems. The trust’s older people’s inpatient services are provided in three wards based at the Highgate Centre for Mental Health.

The care and treatment that people experienced was well-led. The inpatient and community services worked well together to provide care that focused on recovery. People told us that they were treated with kindness and that they felt well respected.

People’s physical health needs were met and staff were quick to respond to any changes. However, we found that the inpatient service did not always manage falls well and did not take enough action to prevent them happening again.

Incidents and accidents were monitored. However, the service failed to share findings and recommendations quickly, which made learning from serious untoward events ineffective.

The service monitored its compliance with the Mental Health Act 1983 and where gaps were found these were addressed by ward managers. Staff’s knowledge and application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards was not good enough.

27-30 May 2014

During an inspection of Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust psychiatric intensive care inpatient services (PICU) are provided in one ward based at the Highgate Centre for Mental Health. This accommodates 12 men (aged 18 to 65 years). There are no female PICU beds within the service.

The trust also provides liaison services to three health-based places of safety (PoS). These are located in the accident and emergency (A&E) departments of the Whittington Hospital, University College Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital.

Psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU)

In January 2014, the trust initiated a ‘rapid improvement plan’ for Coral Ward as through trust wide quality assurance processes it was recognised that urgent improvements were needed. At the time of our inspection, the ward had an interim ward manager in place, as well as a project group who had prepared an action plan. A team development day was planned to take the team forward.

People’s experience of care varied. While they were actively involved in planning their care, they told us that they felt unsafe on the ward because of drug use and thefts. Staff treated people with care and respect and were responsive in addressing people’s needs.

People’s physical health needs were met. Staff were aware of patients’ physical health needs and responded promptly.

The progress on the rapid improvement plan was being overseen by a project group which included the Chief Operating officer and Associate Divisional Director. However, it was hard to tell if areas that were identified as needing improvement were always followed-up in a timely manner.

Strong structures for staff supervision and appraisal have been in place since April 2014. In addition, all staff were updating their training based on a list of core competencies.

Staff reviewed and managed risk on the PICU at a daily multidisciplinary meeting.

The service monitored its compliance with the Mental Health Act 1983 and addressed any gaps found. Staff’s knowledge and application of the Mental Health Act was good, but their knowledge and use of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 needed to be improved.

Health-based place of safety (PoS)

The trust has strong joint policies and procedures in place. These made sure that the three acute trusts providing accommodation for the PoS had an effective liaison service. The staff working in this service were appropriately qualified and worked as a multidisciplinary team.

27-30 May 2014

During an inspection of Acute admission wards

People experienced care that was compassionate, sensitive and kind. We also found that the wards were well-led and that ward managers were visible and accessible to both people using the service and staff.

The services provided helped people to improve their mental health and return to live in the community. Staff on the acute admission wards consistently provided people with information on their rights under the Mental Health Act 1983, or as informal patients, and checked that this was understood. However, staff members’ understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) was poor and assessments of capacity lacked detail.

Some people were moved between wards several times during one admission, some of which occurred at night.

Services were not always safe as people were not protected from identified risks. For example, while environmental risk assessments had been completed and individual clinical risk assessments were in place, staff were not able to articulate how they would manage the risks to patients from ligatures. Some people told us that staff were slow to take action to protect them after they had been assaulted by another patient on the ward. In addition, whilst action had been taken to prevent illegal drugs coming on to the wards this was still an ongoing issue.

27-30 May 2014

During a routine inspection

The trust was well-led by the Board the executive team and senior managers. Their work was supported by strong governance arrangements and a comprehensive quality assurance process. This meant that they  were aware of the areas that needed improvement and were at different stages of addressing them.

People using the services were treated with dignity and respect. The majority of the service users and carers we spoke with said staff were kind and we observed many positive interactions. We also saw that the trust was supporting people to be actively engaged in their own care and also to be involved in the development of the services.

We saw many areas of good and innovative practice across a range of units and teams within each core services, and the trust had much to be proud of. We also found good collaborative working relationships with partner agencies such as social services. We saw that the trust genuinely wanted to put the people who used their services at the centre of their work.

There were, however, a few areas that could have an impact on the safety and effectiveness of the service being delivered. These were predominantly found in the inpatient, rather than the community, services. Although the trust had started to address these issues, there was still more to be done.

Our greatest concerns were in the acute inpatient services where ligature points were putting people’s safety at risk. In addition, the consistency of people’s acute inpatient care was sometimes being affected by ward moves, which were not based on clinical need. We were also concerned about the safety of older people, as procedures to reduce the risk of falls were not being fully used. At ward level, lessons from previous serious untoward incidents were not always being shared effectively to reduce future risks to people using the service.

Staff, mainly in inpatient services, were not always confident in using the Mental Capacity Act 1983 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This meant that people might not be properly involved in decisions about their care. In some cases, it meant that they could be deprived of their liberty without the correct authorisations in place, which would contravene their human rights.

It is our view that the provider needs to take steps to improve the quality and safety of their services. We found that they are currently in breach of regulations.

We will be working with them to agree an action plan to help improve the standards of care and treatment.

Intelligent Monitoring

We use our system of intelligent monitoring of indicators to direct our resources to where they are most needed. Our analysts have developed this monitoring to give our inspectors a clear picture of the areas of care that need to be followed up. Together with local information from partners and the public, this monitoring helps us to decide when, where and what to inspect.

Mental Health Act Commissioner reports

Each year, we visit all NHS trusts and independent providers who care for people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act to monitor the care they provide and check that patients' rights are met. Immediate concerns raised by patients on those visits are discussed, if appropriate, with hospital staff.

Our Mental Health Act Commissioners may carry out a number of visits to each provider over a 12-month period, during which they talk to detained patients, staff and managers about how services are provided. In the past, we summarised themes from the visits and published an annual statement followed by the provider's response where applicable. We are looking at different ways to indicate the outcomes of our monitoring in the future.