We carried out an unannounced inspection at the Moorside Unit following information of concern received from external professionals about the number of times patients had absconded from the unit in recent weeks.

We sampled four patient records and found there was evidence of comprehensive assessment of care and treatment needs. It was evident crisis plans were in place when required. These identified "triggers" and appropriate action to be undertaken was documented in care plans.

We found staff on Medlock ward had received appropriate levels of safeguarding vulnerable adults and child protection training. We spoke with four members of staff during the inspection and each demonstrated a good understanding of safeguarding and the types of abuse that could occur.

We observed staff following security procedures when a request was made to enter or leave the ward.

We looked at staffing levels to ascertain if this was a factor in the number of recent absconsions from the unit. We saw there were consistently two qualified staff (RMN) and two nursing assistants allocated per shift. At night the unit had one RMN plus two nursing assistants on duty. We saw there was a consistent use of bank staff. It was clear this was on occasions, due to unexpected sickness or absence of staff.

We spoke with patients who said: "I feel staff look after me", "I feel safe on the ward" and "I know the door needs to be locked and that keeps us safe".

We reviewed the results from the national survey: What service users said about care in hospital 2009. The trust's scores for this outcome were all within the expected range. A trust's score that falls within this expected range cannot be said to be any better or worse than what we would reasonably expect when looking at how all other trusts have performed and the number of people that responded to the survey.

We reviewed the results from the national survey: What service users said about community based care 2010. The trust's scores were all within the expected range.