Mental health services slammed as 'inadequate' by watchdog as patients left 'unsafe'

Mental health services have been slammed as 'inadequate' by investigators as patients have been left to deteriorate without the knowledge of staff. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out the inspection into two of Manchester's community-based mental health care teams after receiving information from whistle-blowers concerned about the standard of care, reveals a damming report published today (June 29).

Adult and working age patients 'struggled to contact the service for support or when in crisis, leaving people at risk of harm as they had no way to tell staff their mental health had worsened', the inspection found. The service was also chronically understaffed amid high turnover rates, according to investigators, with people not being seen 'regularly enough to keep them safe'.

Patient care plans went with a lack of up to date information about their care and treatment, adds the report, as 'staff were often unaware of patients decline in mental health'. Meanwhile, there were 'no plans' on how the understaffing would be rectified to meet demand, and such a shortage of inpatient beds that the mental health of patients left to be treated in the community was deemed severe.

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In total, there were 428 patients waiting for assessment, 221 patients waiting for treatment across the two teams and more than 260 patients without a care coordinator - someone to plan and be in charge of their treatment. "Many of these patients were not contacted or reviewed during this time," said the report, including patients with serious "safeguarding" concerns.

"The service was not aware of potential changes in the level of risk for these patients as this