Conducting an in-depth review

Baxendale conducted an in-depth review of Psychiatry UK services, focusing on key issues identified by the CQC. This thorough analysis took place over five weeks and involved staff interviews, as well as a review of various documents, including organisational policies, action plans, and CQC responses. The key themes, strengths, and potential gaps were then presented to the Executive Team. We outlined a series of recommendations, including high-priority actions to address immediate concerns, alongside more strategic, long-term priorities.

Implementing these recommendations

Baxendale then supported Psychiatry UK in implementing these recommendations. This included facilitating workshops with key stakeholders to map out essential pathways, such as complaints, incidents, risks, and audits. Subsequently, Baxendale designed and project-managed the implementation of these pathways on the RADAR system, creating a single platform to log and manage all events, as well as track outcomes and learning points. This also included the automatic reporting of patient safety events to the NHS, promoting broader national learning.

Additionally, Baxendale assisted the organisation in completing the CQC Single Assessment Framework. This process involved all services conducting a baseline assessment to identify evidence of assurance against each quality statement and any gaps to be addressed. Following the baseline assessment, we supported the services in prioritising and implementing the necessary actions to improve quality.

Furthermore, we helped develop a new audit schedule and governance framework to ensure the organisation was focusing on the most critical areas while maintaining flexibility to prioritise emerging high-risk concerns. This governance structure enabled audits to be reviewed in a dedicated forum with Clinical Leads and Service Managers, ensuring findings and learning points were actively used to drive improvements.