AN NHS trust which manages mental health services, sexual health and community hospitals in Worcestershire has been rated 'good' by an independent watchdog.

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust has been rated ‘good’ by the healthcare sector’s independent regulator - the second highest rating possible.

Inspectors from the CQC (Care Quality Commission) re-visited trust sites and services at the end of last year to assess them against its set national criteria.

These seek to discover whether services are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. The CQC published that report today (Monday) which rated the trust as ‘good’ overall.

The trust was originally inspected in January 2015 and at that point, despite being widely praised for the majority of the services provided, there were a few areas which required improvement.

The trust put in place a plan to make those improvements quickly with the majority of the key issues completed within weeks of that original inspection.

The re-visit in December was to re-assess the outstanding areas, and the new report confirms that the inspectors were satisfied that those issues originally identified have been put right, leading to the overall rating being upgraded.

The CQC said the trust “can be proud” of the services it provides, which include community hospitals, minor injury units, district nursing, health visiting, mental health services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, sexual health, and community dentistry.

The report also praised the culture within the trust and described staff as dedicated, kind, caring and patient focused.

Sarah Dugan, chief executive of Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, said: “Both our front-line staff and our support functions do their best every day to provide the kind of care and treatment we would expect for ourselves and our own families and it is really heartening to see this referenced time and again in the latest report.

“We will as always continue to seek ways to improve the care and experience we offer to local people.”

CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals (and lead for mental health), Dr Paul Lelliott, said: “The trust can be proud of many of the services that it manages and the hard work has paid off resulting in a new overall rating of Good. We found staff to be dedicated, kind, caring and patient focused.”

Jeff Worrall, portfolio director at NHS Improvement, said: “We are confident that the trust will continue to build on this progress to ensure that a high standard of care continues for the local community.”