The Care Quality Commission has rated Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust as Good overall, the same as at its last inspection.
The trust was rated Outstanding for being effective, Good for being caring, responsive and well-led and Requires Improvement for being safe, following the inspection in October and November 2019.
Across the organisation, the CQC found:
Patients were treated with compassion and kindness across all services with respect for their privacy and dignity
‘Evidence of some outstanding care’ supported by a flourishing and well-embedded QI programme
Establishment of the Primary Care Mental Health Networks ensuring joined-up care
Positive engagement with patients, carers and staff including a wide range of co-production work
A strategy to improve staff health and wellbeing
A ‘capable and experienced leadership team’ who are open about the challenges they face and
Effective partnerships with other stakeholders across north London, including the formal alliance with Barnet, Enfield and Haringey NHS Mental Health Trust, ‘which was progressing well’.
The Trust still faces challenges including high demand for acute beds; caseloads that are too high in community-based mental health; and delays to both Mental Health Act assessments and serious incident investigations. The CQC also identified the need for more work to strengthen support networks to meet the needs of staff and patients with protected characteristics.
Chief Executive, Angela McNab, said: “We recognise that we have more to do to improve safety, ensuring that this aspect of our care is consistently high at all times and across all services, and we are fully committed to delivering this through a programme of ongoing work which we will be sharing widely going forward”.
Trust is rated Good by CQC