Inspectors warn Southern Health Trust to make "urgent improvements"

  • Meridian
Chief Executive Katrina Percy has rejected calls to stand down

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust to take 'urgent action' to ensure the safety of patients.

Inspectors say the Trust must make 'significant improvements' to protect patients 'at risk of harm' in the care of its mental health and learning disability services.

The trust was criticised by NHS England in December after it failed to investigate hundreds of unexpected deaths over a four year period.

Hundreds of deaths weren't properly investigated

The NHS report was sparked by the death of Connor Sparrowhawk from Oxfordshire. The teenager drowned in a bath while at an NHS care unit in Headington in 2013.

CQC inspectors visited the trust in January and found 'it did not adequately ensure it learned from incidents to reduce future risks to patients'.

Inspectors found that the trust did not effectively respond to concerns about safety raised by patients, their carers and staff. They also failed to adequately respond to concerns raised by Trust staff about their ability to carry out their roles effectively.

The reports were sparked by the death of Connor Sparrowhawk

Chief Executive of Southern Health, Katrina Percy, says she believes "good progress has been made":