Improvements at Mill Lodge NHS ward after inspection – CQC

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have improved the rating for child and adolescent mental health wards (CAMHS), run by Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, from requires improvement to good.

It follows an inspection carried out on October 28 and 29 last year.

The wards inspected were at Mill Lodge, off Huntington Road in York, and Red Kite View, in Leeds. Mill Lodge is a 10-bed general adolescent ward while Red Kite View contains two wards, a 16-bed general adolescent unit and a separate six bed Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

CQC said it found a breach of regulation in safe care and treatment when managing medicines and completing mandatory training at the trust.

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been told to submit a plan showing what action it is taking in response to these concerns, the watchdog added.

The trust’s overall CQC rating remains good.

Inspectors said trust leaders had “not ensured” all staff at the CAMHS service were trained in safeguarding to keep people safe.

But they said the trust had “plans in place to ensure all staff were trained after the inspection”.

Trust has ‘made improvements’ to service after CQC raised concern, says watchdog

CQC said service staff “didn’t consistently follow good practice with regards to medicines management, including how it was given to people and records showing what they’d been given”.

However, CQC said it found that the trust “had made improvements to the service” since its 2024 inspection, when the watchdog concluded that the service was “not performing as well as it should”.

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Inspectors said individual care plans at the service were developed, regularly reviewed and updated after their most recent inspection.

They found that staff “worked well across different teams to help support people” and “treated people with compassion and kindness and respected their privacy and dignity”, according to CQC.

The watchdog also said inspectors found that staff at the service “understood their individual needs and supported them to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition”.

CQC added that the “service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support”.

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been approached for comment.