A health body responsible for a range of services across Cambridgeshire has been rated as “outstanding” in all areas by the Care Quality Commission.

A health body responsible for a range of services across Cambridgeshire has been rated as "outstanding" in all areas by the Care Quality Commission.

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, which delivers a wide range of services for children and adults across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has been awarded the highest rating by the Care Quality Commission; the independent regulator of health services across England.

The trust is based in Meadow Lane, St Ives, but works across the county, as well as in locations across the wider East of England..

Matthew Winn, chief executive, Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust said: "I am incredibly proud that the Care Quality Commission has rated our trust 'Outstanding'.

Staff across the trust have worked hard to develop innovative and accessible services for local residents and this rating reflects their dedication and passion for delivering the very best outcomes for the communities we serve. I was delighted the CQC recognised what I witness all the time, that our staff are caring and compassionate in the way they provide care to local residents - all of our local teams have so much to be proud about."

The trust, which delivers the county's school immunisation programme, contraception and sexual health services, and dental services was rated 'good" in all four of the five areas, with sexual health services being rated "outstanding".

Responding to the Care Quality Commission's rating, Tracey Cooper, the trust's service director for ambulatory services added: "Our staff are making a real difference on a daily basis to the quality of people's lives, enabling them to access care in innovative ways closer to home or in their local community; often avoiding the need for hospital-based care. I am so pleased that their commitment and achievements have been recognised by the Care Quality Commission - I couldn't be prouder."

The result represents a turnaround in fortunes for the trust, which was rated as good at a previous inspection, which took place in 2018.

John Peberdy, service director of children and young people's services said: "Ensuring children get the very best start in life and supporting families to achieve this is at the centre of all we do. The complex levels of care delivered, including in the home setting, and the commitment from staff to putting families first is simply phenomenal. I look forward to continuing to build on this fantastic rating from the Care Quality Commission and commend staff across our services for their ongoing passion and commitment."

CQC inspected Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust between April and June this year and found it offered excellent care and treatment, particularly in its community sexual health services. As a result, the trust is rated Outstanding overall.

The trust is also rated as Outstanding for whether its services are caring and well-led. It is rated Good for being safe, effective and responsive.

The trust has been advised to make one improvement, which is to have an adequate number of nurses with the right mix of skills within services for children and young children.

CQC's chief inspector of hospitals, professor Ted Baker, said: "We were impressed by the high-quality care and treatment we found at Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust.

"A caring culture ran through the organisation. We saw warm and generous interactions between people and staff which had a positive impact on patient wellbeing. Underpinning this was a leadership team that prioritised putting people at the heart of their care by supporting frontline staff with the right strategies and polices.

"The trust's community sexual health services treated people with dignity and respect, working particular successfully to support vulnerable people. This service made itself accessible by enabling people to take sexual health checks and obtain results without attending a clinic. Staff worked collaboratively, and leaders made good use of information about the service's performance to drive continual improvement. All this led to an excellent standard of care.

"In community end of life care, staff in Luton had developed systems to work effectively with other healthcare professionals, including the local hospital and hospice. Staff supported people to access emotional support and counselling when this was needed, and feedback from patients was overwhelmingly positive. In community health services for children and young people, we found compassionate staff who empowered patients to be as independent as possible.

"However, there were some issues for the trust to address. There were not always enough nurses and health visitors in community services for children and young people. We also found gaps in staff training, notably regarding sepsis, although the trust had begun addressing this.

"An Outstanding rating is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment; I congratulate everyone involved. We continue to monitor the trust and we will return to carry out further inspections to check on progress with improvements."