‘Significant progress’ has already been achieved since two ‘requires improvement’ inspection reports on Hampshire and Isle of Wight mental health services, the NHS has said.
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said it has responded ‘positively and proactively’ to findings by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), in a new paper ahead of scheduled scrutiny at County Hall.
Community-based mental health services for adults of working age, mental health crisis services and the trust’s leadership have been told to perform better this year by the watchdog.
Community services: nine breaches
A 12th March 2026 report on the trust’s community-based mental health services for adults of working age found nine regulation breaches.
These related to issues including waiting list management, good governance as well as the deployment of sufficient staff who had completed mandatory training and received supervision and appraisal.
Crisis services inspection
The CQC’s inspection of mental health crisis services in September 2025 found seven breaches in respect of staffing, response times for urgent and very urgent mental health care, seclusion practices, direct outdoor access and overall service management.
Concerns raised over leadership
A July report on the trust’s leadership said some staff in mental health acute services ‘felt safety concerns were overlooked by leaders’ and ‘unsafe admissions were affecting the wellbeing of staff’ and others on the wards.
The CQC also found need for improvement in equality, diversity and inclusion and detailed negative experiences of staff with protected characteristics, including race and disability, applying for promotion.
Committee to consider findings
The Isle of Wight Council’s adult social care, public health and housing needs committee will consider the inspection reports next week as part of its health scrutiny role.
What the trust says it has done
‘Comprehensive improvement programmes’ have been established across both community mental health and crisis services, according to the trust. Its report said,
“Significant progress has already been achieved in governance, workforce oversight, waiting list management and quality assurance.
“For community mental health services and crisis services, specific actions are underway to strengthen crisis leadership, improve patient safety while waiting, develop enhanced assessment facilities and ensure that Island services receive focused organisational attention.
“The trust remains committed to delivering sustainable improvement and will continue to provide assurance through regular monitoring, transparent reporting and engagement with local stakeholders, including the scrutiny committee.”
Councillors on the adult social care, public health and housing needs committee will meet at County Hall at 5pm next Thursday (13th August 2026).
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
