NHS staff and bosses are celebrating after the performance of Lancashire’s major mental health and community services provider was upgraded.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission have said Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the likes of Hillview and Pendleview units at Blackburn and wards at Burnley General Hospital, no longer ‘requires improvement’.

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As part of their new ‘good’ status, nearly a dozen areas have been lauded by the watchdog, ranging from forensic in-patient wards, to older people’s provisions in the community and at hospital, community and adolescent teams and sexual health services.

Prof Heather Tierney-Moore, the trust’s chief executive, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and is solely down to the hard work and effort that the trust has put into making improvements following the first initial inspection.”

Staff and patient interactions were especially praised and Mrs Tierney-Moore said it ‘fills us with pride and shows that we are a truly compassionate organisation’.

Inspectors left the NHS trust with a checklist of further improvements, which they say will maintain standards, including continuing with an ongoing recruitment drive, ensuring regular staff appraisals and updating their seclusion policy.

Bosses at the trust have said this work is already ongoing and a recommendation that the Hurstwood unit, formerly Ward 22 at Burnley General, is relocated to the Blackburn site has already been implemented.

Dr Paul Lelliott, the CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals, said: “On this inspection, we found that they had a clearer sense of direction and was now more responsive to the needs of people using the service.

“They worked closely with other healthcare partners to identify those needs.

“We were particularly impressed by the work of the staff training and quality academy which is responsible for providing and monitoring all aspects of staff training and development.

“There is no doubt that this is improving the quality of patient care.

A team of 80 inspectors visited various sites run by Lancashire Care across the county last September.

The announcement follows a decision by the CQC to award a similar overall ‘good’ rating to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust last week.