Friday 7 August 2026
The CQC carried out the inspection in April to check on improvements since the last inspection in 2022.
Our CAMHS service was praised by inspectors who described staff as kind, respectful, compassionate and supportive.
The report has been released today (7 August) and the areas of effective, well-led, caring and responsive have been rated as good. Safe has been rated requires improvement again.
CQC inspected services across our trust that provide specialist community mental health support for children and young people up to the age of 18 years old.
Inspectors found:
- The service managed safety incidents well and carried out thorough investigations to identify any learning and improvements.
- Staff understood how to protect young people from abuse and the service worked well with other agencies to do so.
- Clinicians had a good understanding of the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act meaning they could support people well.
- Managers were supportive of staff and valued their teams and the work they were doing.
- Leaders used feedback to make improvements to services to meet the needs of people in their local communities.
- The trust had Getting Help teams, Getting More Help teams and a CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) Crisis Team which were closely interlinked to ensure young people were directed to the most appropriate service to meet their needs and level of risk.
- Some staff felt that service pressures had a negative effect on staff wellbeing, however this didn’t affect the care given to young people.
Beverley Murphy, chief nurse, said: “This report shows the determination of our colleagues to improve care for young people across our communities. We’re incredibly proud of our CAMHS service and, most importantly, the dedicated staff who make a positive difference every day.
“We’re pleased that the service has been rated good overall, with inspectors recognising caring, compassionate and committed staff, positive feedback from young people and carers, and improvements in staffing, responsiveness and how teams work together.
“It also demonstrates the positive changes we’ve made since our last inspection in 2022, when this service was rated as requires improvement.
“Alongside our partners we’ve improved access to care so young people can get help more quickly, closer to home and in ways that support them to thrive in their families and communities.
“We recognise the areas we need to improve. The report is clear that we must strengthen the consistency of risk assessments, safety summaries and safety plans. We will take action on this and continue to focus on learning, improvement and providing safe, kind and person-centred care.”
The full report will be published on the CQC website in the coming days.
