AN EMBATTLED health trust is still failing to safely look after patients despite two years of warnings from a health watchdog.

The latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report for Slade House 2 in Headington, run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, criticised safety standards and rated the care home as Requires Improvement.

Despite the trust saying it has a "robust action plan" in place, the report, published on Wednesday, October 12, said it neglected to address many similar failings from previous inspections.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: "This only confirms what we have learnt previously, Southern Health is not fit for purpose.

"It should be broken up and under new management in the interest of patient safety."

It follows the admission from the trust in June to causing the death of 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk, who drowned in a bath while in its care in neighbouring Slade House in 2013.

A Southern Health spokesman said: "We welcome the report and fully accept its findings.

"The report praised our staff for the care they provided however it also raised some issues such as not having a CQC registered manager and a shortage of staff. A robust action plan has been drawn up to address the findings."

Although staff were said to be caring and patients deemed to be treated with dignity, the report said the six-bed home in Horspath Driftway, for adults with learning disabilities, was found to be unable to ensure safe care and support for residents.

It highlighted risk assessments that were not undertaken properly with incidents not being reported to the CQC, and no effective system in place to improve the safety of its service.

It added that staff were competent in their roles but morale was very low and many felt unsupported by the provider.

The Trust said it has recruited a CQC registered manager, due to start in November, and is working hard to improve the other areas highlighted in the report.

The report follows the announcement on October 7 that former chief executive Katrina Percy quit her £190,000-a-year role after mounting pressure.

Ms Percy headed the Trust during a period in which an NHS England investigation found it failed to investigate hundreds of deaths over a four year period, including Connor Sparrowhawk.

Commenting on the latest report Mr Sparrowhawk’s mother, Dr Sara Ryan, said: "I am almost out of words.

"They are just putting patients through so much misery and don't seem to have an idea how to provide proper care.

"Southern Health, as we have seen over the three and half years, just say it is going to improve but inspections such as this CQC report find they simply don't do anything.

"They simply don't care."