Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

People told us that most staff were kind and compassionate. However, they said some staff could be abrupt and rude and we observed this once during the day of our visit. We observed that some staff did not interact with people during the mealtime. People said they were not always told why they could not do an activity outside and were disappointed by this. Staff supported people following their multidisciplinary team meeting to reduce their distress.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People said that most staff were kind, particularly the occupational therapists, psychologist, and managers. Some people said that some staff could be rude and abrupt to them and other staff. They said that some bank staff lacked knowledge about eating disorders which meant they did not always show compassion. They said that staff would give their meals to them and then leave the dining room when they were supposed to support them. People said they were able to personalise their bedroom and had access to their clothing and belongings. Relatives said that they were supported by staff when visiting and had always observed them to be kind and respectful.

We observed a staff member being abrupt when they entered the lounge and told people the door needed to be kept open. We observed during mealtime that there was limited conversation between staff and people. Following the mealtime people went to the lounge as they are unable to access their bedrooms due to risks. Staff sat in the lounge but there was limited interaction with people.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

People told us that there had been an incident that week where they had planned a garden activity, but staff had said it was too cold to go out. They had their coats on and were confused as to why they couldn’t go out. People said that staff had not explained to them the reasons for not being able to go out. We observed the alarm going off which some people found distressing. This was a false alarm and people said it happened more than once a week which was not helpful to their recovery.

Staff demonstrated awareness that following a person’s multidisciplinary team meeting they may be upset. They put extra support in place to help people and reduce their distress.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.