Residents urged to engage in NHS survey

Their views and experiences will help inspectors decide what to look at when they inspect.

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is to be inspected under the changes introduced by the Care Quality Commission.

The formal inspection by a team including clinical experts and people who have experience of using mental health services, will start on Monday January 12.

Over the course of a week, the inspection team will be visiting hospital wards managed by the trust in Sussex as well as many of the trusts community services.

The chief inspector, professor Sir Mike Richards, announced last month that CQC is taking a new approach to put a greater emphasis on inspecting the care that people with mental health problems receive in the community. This is at the same time as inspecting services for people who are admitted to hospital for assessment or treatment.

To ensure the views of the whole local community are properly represented, the inspectors are appealing to people to contact CQC either by telephone, email or online.

Sir Mike said: “The new inspections are designed to provide us with a clear picture of the quality of the services, exposing poor or mediocre care as well as highlighting those trusts providing good and excellent care.

“The needs of people with mental health problems run through all CQC’s work. We have recognised that we need to strengthen our approach to regulating specialist mental health services to ensure that people get care that is safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well led.”

Sir Mike’s inspection team will look at a range of services including acute admission wards for all age groups, psychiatric intensive care units and health-based places of safety,

Anyone who wishes to give their views to the inspection team can do this in a number of ways; by email: [email protected], by letter: CQC, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA or phone 03000 616161