Wiltshire mental health trust promises to change

The Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) has promised to improve its record as a service provider following a critical independent review.

The review, commissioned by the region’s SHA, said that AWP was “centralist in style, with improvement required in clinical engagement and poor relationships with stakeholders”.

AWP, which has just gained a contract to co-provide autism diagnosis services in Wiltshire, responded that it had been through a “challenging period” and planned to improve.

The report led to the retirement of the trust’s Chairman and Chief Executive.

Tony Gallagher, the trust’s new Chairman, said: “We have started to change the way the trust is run and the way it relates to staff, service users, carers and other stakeholders.

“We will ensure that service users and carers are at the centre of what we do and that staff are enabled to make a real difference in the care we provide.”

NHS Wiltshire has said it may retender its mental health services due to its concerns about AWP.

However, the mental health trust has just gained a contract to co-provide autism diagnosis services, along with two other providers, for NHS Wiltshire.

One member of the NHS Wiltshire board questioned the trust’s suitability, but the board took the view that AWP had met the criteria to provide this specialist service and so could not fairly be excluded.