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News from the Care Quality Commission: February 2022
This bulletin was sent at 25-02-2022 01:11 PM GMT
The independent regulator of health and social care in England
Newsletter
Our monthly update for everyone interested in health and social care
Our annual report on the use of the Mental Health Act
Monitoring the Mental Health Act is our annual report on the use of the Mental Health Act (MHA). It looks at how providers are caring for patients, and whether patients' rights are being protected.
This year's report finds:
The workforce is under extreme pressure
Community services are key to reducing levels of detention in hospital
Urgent action is needed to address longstanding inequalities in mental health care
Writing in the foreword, Jemima Burnage, our lead for mental health, says:
"This year’s report reflects on the full year under the cloud of the pandemic. This has been, of course, a time of unprecedented stress on services, staff, and on patients managing under restrictions introduced in response to the pandemic, as well as their detention in hospital under the MHA. There has been much tragic loss of life in mental health services, as everywhere else.
"But both this year’s and last year’s reports also describe a story of resilience. In our discussions with patients, carers, advocates and staff during the year, people were appreciative of each other’s efforts."
This year's maternity survey gathers the views of more than 23,000 people who had a live birth in early 2021.
The majority of women were positive about the maternity care they received - but the impact of the pandemic has led to poorer experiences for some, and exacerbated concerns around the quality of postnatal care.
The survey found that:
Questions asking about continuity of care improved compared with the last survey in 2019
The majority of women continued to report positive experiences about their interactions with staff
Most women said that they were given enough support for their mental health during their pregnancy if they needed it
Results continued to show poorer experiences of care for many women postnatally compared with other aspects of the maternity pathway.
Speaking about the survey's findings, Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:
“While COVID-19 restrictions have eased since the survey was carried out, the challenges for NHS trusts providing care in the current climate remain.
"These results offer valuable insight that NHS trusts can use to understand what women using their maternity services really think. This will help them to identify where they may be able to make changes, within the resources they have available, to ensure consistently good experience for all women and their families."
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