A North East NHS mental health and disability care provider is one of the first in the country to be rated as ‘Outstanding’.
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (NTW), a provider of mental health and disability services, has been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The independent regulator of health and adult social care in England this week published its findings in the form of 15 core service reports and an overall report, which rated NTW as ‘Outstanding’; the best possible outcome. All of the individual service reports were also either ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’.
Nationally, NTW is one of the first NHS providers of such services to receive an Outstanding rating.
NTW Chief Executive John Lawlor said: “We’re delighted that the contribution our staff make to the lives of those we serve has been recognised by this ‘Outstanding’ inspection report. We are very proud of our staff and the professional and dedicated way in which they support service users; working with them, family members and carers to shape services.
“We know that we don’t always get things right. We are not complacent; we listen when we get things wrong and work to ensure that improvements are made. This is reflected in our CQC report.
“No other NHS provider of similar services has been given an Outstanding rating before today – it’s all down to our staff, service users, carers and partners.
“Our aim as an organisation is to improve the wellbeing of everyone we serve through delivering services that match the best in the world. This report shows we are making real progress.”
NTW Chairman Hugh Morgan Williams said: “The CQC inspection of our services, carried out in June, was truly comprehensive; involving staff, service users and carers. The inspectors visited the full range of our services, including mental health, learning disabilities and neurorehabilitation, both inpatient and community. It is wonderful that inspectors judged that we should be one of the first such NHS providers in the country to be rated as Outstanding.
“This rating is a tribute to all of our wonderful, dedicated, staff and I am very proud to be Chairman of an organisation which places patient care at the centre of everything we do. We must now look to the future, without complacency, and continue to work with service users, carers and our partners to strive to deliver world class care.”
The inspection reports are available from the CQC website at: http://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RX4