THE MAIN mental health organisation in the county has been told it needs to improve in a critical report by health watchdogs.

Lancashire Care Foundation Trust was slated after inspectors visited the trust between January and February this year.

Watchdogs identified a series of problems at the trust, which provides specialist mental health and physical health services to a population of around 1.4 million people within Lancashire.

They said it 'requires improvement' for its safety, effectiveness and leadership, while it's care and responsiveness was rated 'good'.

Overall the trust was given a rating of 'requires improvement', which has fallen from 'good' since its last inspection in September 2016.

In the mental health crisis services and health based places of safety, inspectors noted that patients detained by police as requiring assessment under the Mental Health Act would be kept in specialist suites known as 'health based places of safety'.

Inspectors were concerned to see that it was not unusual for patients to be held in this accommodation for longer than the 24-hour time limit set down in legislation.

Watchdogs also said recruitment and retention of staff remained a 'challenge',and there was an 'over-reliance' on the use of agency and bank staff to ensure patients were kept safe.

Dr Paul Lelliott the Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health), said:

“It is disappointing to report that our overall rating for Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust has declined since our last inspection.

“The trust has been under pressure notably in mental health crisis services and the child and adolescent mental health wards. The board and senior management team did not have sufficient oversight of staff supervision; particularly in some core services, where rates of ongoing appraisal and supervision were too low and have not improved since our last inspection."

But the trust was praised by patients and carers who told inspectors that staff were compassionate, committed and interested in them as individuals.

Inspectors could also see that staff ensured that patients’ cultural, religious and dietary needs were being met and services were equipped to meet the needs of patients with physical disabilities.

The five core services that CQC inspected were: acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units; forensic inpatient / secure wards; child and adolescent mental health wards; mental health crisis services and health based places of safety; and community health inpatient services.

Lancashire Care chief executive Heather Tierney Moore said it is 'important that the more positive aspects of the report are not lost.'

She said: "This is a disappointing outcome for the trust and this feeling is shared across the organisation. We have dedicated and hard working people at Lancashire Care and this was recognised by the inspection team who saw first hand how caring and responsive our employees are towards patients.

“It is also important that the more positive aspects of the report are not lost. We are really proud of our secure services, Guild Lodge for maintaining the rating of good and of the team at Longridge Hospital who are now also rated good which means our community services overall have a good rating."