An NHS mental health trust that has been the worst performing in England has been warned it must improve after failing another inspection.
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has been rated "inadequate" in the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report.
The CQC said it had served the trust with a warning notice that it had to act on to improve patient care.
The trust has been rated "inadequate" on three previous occasions by the health watchdog, as well as being the only one currently within the NHS's improvement regime for not meeting standards.
Following the latest inspection, its overall rating was downgraded from "requires improvement" - and three out of five measures assessed by the CQC, for safety, leadership and effectiveness, met its lowest grading.
The report said two wards were immediately closed to new patients following a CQC visit in November, after the trust was threatened with enforcement action if urgent measures were not taken.
Significant staffing problems, including an annual nurse vacancy rate of more than 17%, were also highlighted.
Staff at an adult long stay ward did not complete regular checks on patients supposed to happen every 30 to 60 minutes, which meant they were unaware if somebody needed help for periods of up to seven hours.
Inspectors also said there had been a severe deterioration on the trust's inpatient ward for children and young people - the Dragonfly Unit in Carlton Colville, Suffolk.
They found it was reliant on agency workers and lacked a permanent doctor.
Source: BBC News, 27 April 2022
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