Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health services and other community based health services, primarily to the resident population of the Royal County of Berkshire, England, in the United Kingdom. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was established as an NHS Trust on 1 April 2000 following the dissolution of two former NHS organisations on 31 March 2000, namely West Berkshire Priority Care NHS Trust and East Berkshire Learning Disability NHS Trust. Mental health services were also transferred from Heatherwood & Wexham Park NHS Trust. On 2 May 2007, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust was licensed as a foundation trust.

Services

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a widely dispersed organisation with clinical services at several locations across the whole of the Royal County of Berkshire. Services at the trust are broadly divided into three provision areas
Adult Community and Mental HealthChildren, Young People, and Families (CYPF)
an
Talking Therapies
The majority of

community mental health services Center for Mental Health Services''(CMHS), also known as community mental health teams (CMHT) in the United Kingdom, support or treat people with mental disorders (mental illness or mental health difficulties) in a domiciliary setting, instead ...

are aligned with the six unitary authorities of Berkshire of

Slough Borough Council Slough Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Slough, in Berkshire, England. Slough is a unitary authority, having the powers of a county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonial county, with no administ ...

;

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It is named after both the towns of Maidenhead and Windsor, the borough also covers the nearby towns of Ascot and Eton. It is home to Windsor ...

;

Bracknell Forest Borough Council Bracknell Forest Council, also known as Bracknell Forest Borough Council is the local authority of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It ...

;

Wokingham Borough Council Wokingham Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, being a district council (but designated a borough council) also exercising the functions of a county council. Elect ...

;

Reading Borough Council Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremoni ...

and West Berkshire District Council. Each unitary authority area has its own

Community Mental Health Team Center for Mental Health Services''(CMHS), also known as community mental health teams (CMHT) in the United Kingdom, support or treat people with mental disorders (mental illness or mental health difficulties) in a domiciliary setting, instead o ...

which provides teams of social service and

health worker A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (suc ...

s providing a joined up care and support to those in need of mental health support in those locations. Inpatient services are provided in four locations across the Royal County of Berkshire: St Mark's Hospital in Maidenhead;

Wexham Park Hospital Wexham Park Hospital is a large NHS hospital in Slough, Berkshire. It has been managed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust since 2014. Sir Andrew Morris is the chief executive of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital wa ...

in Slough, Berkshire;

Heatherwood Hospital Heatherwood Hospital is an NHS hospital in Ascot, Berkshire. It is managed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in a Victorian country residence known as “Heatherfield” built in 1876, possibly for ...

Ascot, Berkshire Ascot () is a town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is south of Windsor, east of Bracknell and west of London. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the Royal Ascot meeting ...

; and

Prospect Park Hospital Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

in Reading, Berkshire. Buckinghamshire, Berkshire East and Berkshire West

primary care trust Primary care trusts (PCTs) were part of the National Health Service in England from 2001 to 2013. PCTs were largely administrative bodies, responsible for commissioning primary, community and secondary health services from providers. Until 31 May ...

s produced a strategy document, called Care for the Future in August 2011 in which it was proposed to develop community services and reduce hospital provision in the area. In December 2013 it was announced that the Charles Ward in St Mark's Hospital in Maidenhead would be moved to Prospect Park Hospital in January 2013. In June 2015 the trust took over a GP practice run by

Specialist Health Services Specialist may refer to: Occupations * Specialist (rank), a military rank ** Specialist (Singapore) * Specialist (arena football) * Specialist degree, in academia * Specialty (medicine) * Designated market maker, in the American stock market * ...

in Priory Avenue, Reading, Berkshire which had been condemned 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 services in England. It ...

as inadequate. It had been placed in

Special measures Special measures is a status applied by regulators of public services in Britain to providers who fall short of acceptable standards. In education (England and Wales) Ofsted, the schools inspection agency for England and some British Overseas Te ...

but the CQC pronounced it much improved in October 2015. In March 2020 the trust received an overall rating o
'Outstanding'
by the

Accreditations and recognition

Global Digital Accreditation (GDE)

In March 2021 the trust became the first of seven Community and Mental Health NHS trusts in England to achiev
Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) accreditation
Bill Johnston, Associate Director of Digital Transformation
talked about what this accreditation means for our services and patients
“Being accredited as a GDE trust signals far more than the completion of the GDE programme. Accreditation identifies us as being a leader in digital capability to support improved clinical safety, patient and staff experience. We’re now recognised against an international standard of digital capability and maturity, and being the first Community & Mental Health NHS Trust to achieve this accolade is very special. Without the engagement and support of our clinical services the programme would not have delivered its goals or achieved accreditation, so a huge thank you goes out to all those involved either directly or indirectly in the GDE programme. We have used the learning and solid foundations gained from GDE programme, plus the feedback and requirements received from staff, to inform the digital strategy which will continue to build on our capability to further support clinical services to deliver outstanding care”

Veterans Mental Health

In July 2022 the trust received th
Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award
the highest level of accreditation bestowed by the Ministry of Defence. The award recognises the support provided to all those with a connection to the Armed Forces including reservists, veterans, cadet force adult volunteers and spouses/partner. Julian Emms, Chief Executive at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re delighted to be recognised with a Gold award, which reflects our long-term commitment to being a forces-friendly employer. The valuable skills and experience that veterans gain during their time in the forces is a real asset so it’s really important to us that we recognise their contribution and give veterans, reservists and their families every opportunity to build a fulfilling career at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Performance

It was named by the

Health Service Journal ''Health Service Journal'' (''HSJ'') is a news service that covers policy and management in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. History The '' Poor Law Officers' Journal'' was established in 1892. In 1930, it changed its name after ...

as one of the top hundred NHS trusts to work for in 2015. At that time it had 3532 full time equivalent staff and a sickness absence rate of 4%. 71% of staff recommend it as a place for treatment and 62% recommended it as a place to work.

References

External links

* Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trus

* Berkshire Shared Service

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkshire Healthcare Nhs Foundation Trust NHS foundation trusts Health in Berkshire NHS mental health trusts