Birmingham clinic’s mental health services require improvement

Amanda Lyndon, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said people had a mixed experiences of receiving care and treatment at Reaside.

“Some people told us that staff weren’t always kind and caring,” she said.

“However, people felt safe on the wards and knew who to speak to if they had any concerns.”

She said inspectors were told staff had cancelled some escorted leave outside of the unit due to low staffing levels, and that staff were sometimes too busy to support people.

She said they were told there were fewer activities on one ward following the departure of an activity worker, but that the trust had said it had plans to address this.

“Leaders at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS need to focus on improving the effectiveness of people’s care by making sure their individual needs are taken into account,” she said.

“There are many positive findings at FIRST they can look to emulate at Reaside, and build on to make care consistently safer for people at all services.”