AN NHS Trust which runs Bradford district’s mental health, community health and specialist learning disability services has been told it must do better.

Healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission downgraded Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust from “Good” to an overall score of “Requires Improvement” after inspections in October and November last year.

Inspectors scrutinised nine complete core services out of 13 provided by the Trust.

They rated its caring and responsive services as “good”, but deemed safety, effectiveness and being well led as “requires improvement”.

Inspectors found that although some improvements had been made in community health services, improvements were needed across the Trust’s services.

Jenny Wilkes, CQC head of inspection for mental health in the North said: “Inspectors found there had been a deterioration in the quality of patient care on their return to Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust and a number of improvements were needed.

“We found the trust’s senior leadership team did not have effective oversight of staff training or staff supervision and the trust had not ensured checks for all staff had been carried out through the Disclosure and Barring Service.

“Services were not consistently managing risks, risk assessments were not always completed or reviewed and sickness, vacancy and turnover rates were high. Meanwhile, we found safeguarding concerns were not consistently recognised or reported to external agencies and staff had a mixed understanding of the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act.

“However, inspectors noted staff were kind, compassionate, respectful and supportive to patients, and improvements were seen in community services, with. community end of life care being rated as Outstanding.”

Nicola Lees, chief executive of Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The report rightly recognises outstanding practice and innovation in all areas, including safety huddles on our wards, a new anxiety care pathway in our specialist dental services, innovative care pathways in community services, and a strong focus on caring for the physical and mental health needs of people across all areas. It also recognises that our staff are ‘caring and responsive’, and ensure that individuals are’ involved in decisions about their care’.

“Knowing our strong track record on service innovation, performance and quality, the rating was disappointing, but work is already in place to address the key areas that the report raised.”

The Trust has 3,000 staff working at 15 locations, two of these are Lynfield Mount, in Bradford, and the Airedale Centre for mental health inpatient servies.

Community health services were transferred to the trust in 2011 from Bradford and Airedale Community Health Services.