Mental health and learning disability teams in Stevenage and Hitchin , have been rated outstanding by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission.

Independent regulator of health and social care in England, the CQC, carried out the inspections between February and March 2019 and has now published the outstanding result.

The assessment was carried out on the wider Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, which provides health and social care for over 40,000 people across Herts, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk and Essex.

The Hatfield-based NHS trust, up on its previous rating of 'good' for its health services, is now one of just five mental health and learning disabilities NHS trusts across the country to achieve this highest possible rating - and the only one to do so in the East of England.

"This is a fantastic achievement for everyone working for the Trust, including our colleagues working across Stevenage and Hitchin who provide great care for the people they support," said the NHS trust's chief executive, Tom Cahill.

The rating was part of an overall assessment where the NHS trust was rated 'outstanding' for care and being well-led and 'good' for safety, responsiveness and being effective.

This was then weighted by the CQC to give an overall outstanding rating.

"We have been on a journey to make sure that we had great people delivering great services - and this inspection report from the CQC shows the amazing progress we have made.

"The challenge now is to make sure our service users and their carers continue to receive outstanding care at a time when demand continues to grow."

The Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust employs approximately 3,000 staff across 47 sites and 18 registered locations. The NHS trust provides 426 inpatient beds across 38 wards, 16 of which were children's mental health beds.

The CQC inspectors visited the NHS trust's Stevenage and Hitchin locations for impatients at Centenary House, Saffron Ground, Victoria Court and Aston Ward and the Acute Day Treatment Unit at Lister Hospital were found to be 'good'.

But noted, in the report, "the trust should ensure that premises are suitable for purpose within crisis and health-based places of safety, such as at the mental health liaison team assessment suite located at Lister Hospital."

The full report can be viewed online here: hpft.nhs.uk/media/3840/hpft-cqc-inspection-report-published-15-may-19.pdf