Inspectors have found "significant improvements" at Oxleas NHS Trust following a  report in 2020 which saw its Older People’s Services rated "inadequate".

An unannounced inspection of the trust's four elderly mental health wards was carried out in April following on from the previous criticism, and the CQC has reported back "very positive" findings.

Matthew Trainer, the chief executive of the south east London trust, admitted they had previously "got it wrong," but was pleased with the strong response following a "tough year."

The Warning Notice was issued following the last inspection in October 2020 due to concerns with the assessment and management of ligature risk to patients (risk of strangulation).

The CQC's inspectors had identified several breaches of safety and governance standards, and the overall rating for this core service dropped to Inadequate.

The governance flaws had also led to a failure to implement key safety recommendations from a serious incident investigation.

Other services run by the trust which were inspected for the 2020 report had been rated "Good" or "Outstanding".

The new unannounced 'focused' inspection was held to discover if the trust had made any improvements and was complying with the Warning Notice.

And the CQC found the trust had complied with the Warning Notice and made "significant improvements" to the safety of the wards, with the service's rating rising to Good.

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The management of ligature risks was much improved, with a new updated live environmental ligature risk assessment in all four wards, plus refurbishment work to remove ligature points had been carried out.

Matthew Trainer, Chief Executive of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Warning Notice was a real blow after a tough year for our older adults’ services, but CQC were right to pick up concerns.

“Our older adults wards always strive to provide safe, good quality and compassionate care and I’m pleased we have responded strongly to the CQC.

"Lots of hard work has gone into this across the Trust and I’m grateful to the many colleagues who have put the hours in to get us back to where we should be for the sake of the people we care for.

“We got it wrong; we listened, learned and now we’re back on track.”

Some of the many highlights the CQC observed during their inspection were that staff reported an overwhelmingly positive culture and they felt respected, valued and supported.

They said that the Trust promoted equality and diversity daily and there were opportunities for development and career progression.

The Holbrook Ward staff were singled out for using ‘excellent therapeutic skills to de-escalate situations’.

Overall, staff were found to be committed to learning and continuous improvement of the service provided to patients.

Inspectors did however find some excess, out-of-date and used equipment that needed to be removed.

Jane Ray, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for mental health, said: “Overall, this is a very positive report.

"Managers and staff have worked hard to address the concerns we had during our previous inspection and ensure that improvements are made.”