Patients told us they were extremely happy with the care and treatment they received at the Richardson Unit. Relatives we spoke with were impressed with the service and the level of support that both they and their relative received. One patient told us, "The whole service has a feeling of calm." Another patient said, "I do not feel alone now." Other comments included, "This is a really good service" and "Staff are always there for you they are never too busy to listen." One relative said, "The staff are up front and honest from the start which is good. The clinicians know their stuff and are all very experienced."

We found staff obtained patients' consent and were aware of the importance of doing so before care was delivered.

Care and treatment was assessed, well planned and tailored to individual's needs. There was a high level of multi-disciplinary involvement in patient care from a varitey of healthcare professionals. Care and treatment was regularly monitored and care records updated to reflect any changes.

The provider had safeguarding policies and procedures in place. Patients said they felt safe and we found staff were aware of their responsibilities in relation to protecting patients from harm or abuse.

The environment within the unit was clean, comfortable, tailored to the patient group and well maintained.

Patients told us, "Staff are very approachable"; "Staff are really helpful"; and "Staff go out of their way to involve you and explain everything".

The provider had a range of systems in place to ensure the quality of the service that they delivered.

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.