SOMERSET'S community and mental health services have been rated as 'good' by the governing body.

The Care Quality Commission carried out an inspection on services ran by Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and found it to be 'good' in four areas, including being effective and caring, but 'required improvement' in being safe.

Within the report, children and adult mental health wards were praised, as well as community-based mental health services for older people.

Another area which stood out to inspectors was the specialist deaf children and adult mental health services, which saw patients access care through DVDs translated into sign language.

Peter Lewis, chief executive of both Sompar and Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Today I have thanked the staff for their dedication to their patients.

"Inspectors remarked specifically on their compassion, kindness and support for patients and how motivated they are to achieve the best outcomes for patients and carers and the pride they take in their work.”

Despite the positivity in some services, the trust recognises there is still work to be done.

The report stated improvements were needed in specialist community mental health services for children and young people.

Mr Lewis added: "In addition to setting out where we are doing well, the CQC’s inspection report also highlights areas where we have more work to do. The rating for our Community CAMHS (child and adult mental health service) was “requires improvement”.

"Sompar teams have already done an enormous amount of work including bringing waiting times down, which the CQC also recognised in their report, and I thank them for their dedication and hard work to address this."

To read the full report visit cqc.org.uk/provider/RH5.