The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has upgraded its rating for mental health wards run by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) following a visit last year.
The CQC found improvements to adult acute wards and psychiatric intensive care units (PICU), highlighting care planning, staffing, cleanliness, safeguarding and a reduction in restrictive practices.
The overall rating has been upgraded from Inadequate to Requires Improvement following the inspection, which took place in November and December 2024.
It follows the Trust’s Forensic service at Brockfield House, Wickford, and Clifton Lodge care home in Westcliff both being rated as Good in inspection reports published by the CQC earlier this year.
I am pleased that the CQC noted a number of improvements since its previous inspection in 2023. Much progress has been made in partnership with patients, carers and those with lived experience of our services. However we absolutely recognise there is more to do as we continue to focus on the transformation of our mental health services, embedding a new model of care on our wards that will boost staffing levels and ensure all patients receive consistently high quality, therapeutic care to meet their individual needs.
The full inspection report will be published on the CQC website over the next few days.