Community mental health services in Norfolk and Waveney are among the top 10% in the country, according to the independent Healthcare Commission which publishes the results of its Annual Health Check today (Oct 18).

Overall, Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust has scored ‘good’ for use of resources and ‘good’ for the quality of its services.

Chief executive Pat Holman said the organisation was very pleased with its overall performance, in particular with the increased score for use of resources (up one rating from ‘fair’ last year) and being able to declare full compliance with the Core Standards for Better Health.

She added: “We would have achieved a rating of ‘excellent’ for our quality of services if we had been able to demonstrate full integration between health and social care teams in our older people’s services. We have been talking about this with our social care colleagues at Norfolk County Council, as this is a priority area for us and one which we know will improve care for older people. However, our rating of ‘good’ does demonstrate that we have maintained standards of care and consistent improvement in our services.”

Director of nursing Linda Phillips stressed: “All staff should be commended for their passionate commitment to constantly improving services during these challenging times. This shows we have provided consistently high quality services and we will continue to do so in the future.”