AN NHS trust which runs some of the mental health services in York has been told to improve.

The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) has been told is still requires improvement, specifically in relation to safety, to how effective the services are, and to the leadership of services.

A new report notes that when inspectors went into one unit, Clifton House, they were concerned to hear a patient referred to as a ‘prisoner’ by a member of staff. The patient was not present.

The Trust had run all the major mental health services in York - including Bootham Park Hospital - until October last year when it lost the contract.

It still runs Clifton House, a forensic mental health unit off Shipton Road in York, and Mill Lodge, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Huntington.

Shortly before losing the contract, after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection report found “a tale of two cities” in which York had worse services than Leeds and told the trust to improve.

York Press:

At Mill Lodge, concerns were raised about the seclusion of patients and the rooms they were secluded in, in that local working protocols did not fully meet the requirements of the Mental Health code of practice. Inpatients had missed doses of medicine.

Positively, patients were involved in decisions around their own care. The CAMHS team working with deaf or hearing impaired children or young people was found to be outstanding.

The report rates LYPFT as good for how caring its services are and how responsive they are to people’s needs.

As reported in The Press, it has been confirmed that a ward at Clifton House is closing, following concerns around staffing and patient safety.

On Friday, York Central MP Rachael Maskell called for national intervention over the issues raised.

She said: “The recurrent theme is that the staff provide good care for their patients, but the management and the systems that the Trust is responsible for are left wanting. 

“It was particularly concerning that some of the issues that had been raised as problems in previous CQC reports continue. 

“When you are unwell you want confidence the organisation responsible for your care is a place of excellence. For too long people have not had such a service.”