We spoke with 12 patients. We found that before patients received any care or treatment, they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes.

Patients were generally complimentary about their care and treatment. One patient explained, “It did me good by coming here.” We concluded that patients’ needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan.

Patients told us that they felt safe. They were also complimentary about the staff on the ward. “Staff here are all good, you couldn’t wish for nicer people.” We concluded that patients who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

The provider had taken steps to provide care in an environment that was suitably designed and adequately maintained.

We found that unplanned staff absences meant that the provider had to utilise bank and agency staff to cover those shifts not covered by permanent staff. The provider’s representative assured us that staffing levels were being monitored by senior managers.

Patients who used the service, their representatives and staff were asked for their views about their care and treatment and they were acted on.

As part of this inspection, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) liaised with other statutory bodies to identify an overall view of how the trust was performing and any areas of concern. Contact was made with Healthwatch England, NHS England and Monitor, and their views were taken into account in arriving at the judgements on compliance.

No specific areas of concern affecting this inspection were received from local Healthwatch England, the independent consumer champion for health and social care.

Monitor has the responsibility for ensuring foundation trusts, such as Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, are well led in terms of quality and finance. CQC received confirmation that apart from one recently received concern, Monitor had no other significant concerns regarding the trust. The issues raised by the specific concern were looked at during this inspection and are the subject of ongoing review by CQC.

NHS England has the responsibility for commissioning services and ensuring the provision of high quality services. The Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear Area Team had the view that the trust is providing good care but had some questions about specific services and broader issues such as restraint policy. CQC was made aware that these, as well as quality and workforce issues, restraint and specific serious untoward incidents, will be discussed with the trust through a meeting of the Quality Review Group in September 2013. These issues are subject to ongoing monitoring by CQC and have been taken into account in the judgements made in this report.

This was a responsive joint unannounced visit to the Bewick Ward, Hadrian Clinic at the Campus of Ageing and Vitality. The visit was undertaken with a Mental Health Act (MHA) Commissioner.

The reason for the visit was to review safety standards on Bewick Ward following two recent serious untoward incidents.

We were not able to speak to people who used the service about the particular incidents that had triggered this inspection, however some patients we spoke with commented positively about the service and the staff. We also saw good staff interaction with patients, particularly when people became upset or agitated.