Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is an

NHS foundation trust An NHS foundation trust is a semi-autonomous organisational unit within the National Health Service (England), National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health and Social Care (and, until the a ...

which provides specialist

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

learning disability Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficulty ...

, and community healthcare services for the population of the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...

. The trust was established on 1 April 2020 after merging Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Marsha Foster has been chief executive since January 2023 and Philip Gayle has been chairman since December 2024. Half the board members are black and minority ethnic, the only trust in England to achieve that.

History

The Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (BCPFT) was formed on the 1 April 2011. Formerly the Sandwell Mental Health and Social Care Foundation Trust, the name change signified a broader range of services across the region. The trust was given £89,000 from the Nursing Technology Fund in March 2014 which is to be spent on mobile devices. The trust, together with Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust has set up a Liaison and Diversion service. The intention is that "when someone in a police station, or involved in court proceedings, has a mental health problem or other vulnerabilities, they are referred to the right services and are given support and guidance based on their needs." An inspection by the

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care providers in England. It ...

in 2016 found that Abbey ward, Charlemont ward and Friar ward at Hallam Street Hospital,

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

all had blind spots. The wards were said to be in a ‘poor state’ with stained and damaged walls, carpets and furniture and an ‘unpleasant odour throughout the ward areas’. They found a number of areas of good practice. "This included how young people were involved in making decisions about their care and that the trust had also employed a nurse who spoke four Asian languages to lead on work with black and minority ethnic communities." A planned merger with

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides a wide range of community health services across Birmingham and the West Midlands, England. It became an NHS Foundation Trust in March 2016. It planned to merge with Black Country P ...

and Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust was scheduled for October 2017. The new organisation would have an annual turnover of around £440 million – making it the third biggest mental health trust in England. The three way merger collapsed but the merger with Dudley and Walsall was completed in April 2020, forming Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. In 2024, the Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust was dissolved, with all staff, services and property being transferred to the Trust.

References

External links

* {{Official website NHS foundation trusts Health in the West Midlands (county)

History

See also

References

External links