CQC Flags Leadership and Family Support Concerns at Kent and Medway Mental Health Trust

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated leadership at Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust as Requires Improvement following an inspection in March 2026.

The trust provides mental health and learning disability services across Kent and Medway, serving approximately 1.8 million people through inpatient and community facilities.

CQC inspectors identified concerns about management arrangements, staff confidence in raising concerns and the involvement of families and carers following serious incidents. Staff reported that they were not always confident that managers would act on issues raised, with some turning to the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian instead. CQC found that 26% of staff who contacted the guardian feared reprisals.

Inspectors also found that communication with families following serious incidents was sometimes inadequate, with contact often treated as an administrative requirement rather than an opportunity to explain events and provide appropriate support. An independent review had identified shortcomings in communication and support for families.

The inspection highlighted continuing disparities experienced by ethnic minority and disabled staff in recruitment, disciplinary processes and workplace discrimination. White staff also remained significantly overrepresented at board level compared with the trust’s wider workforce.

Local system pressures were another concern, with most people ready to leave hospital lacking suitable accommodation, creating difficulties in moving people through the trust’s services.

However, CQC also identified areas of progress. Collaboration with charities and local partners had helped people leave hospital sooner, saving more than 1,300 bed days. The trust’s Memory Assessment Improvement programme had also reduced waiting times for dementia diagnoses, helping people access treatment sooner.

CQC said the trust’s leadership understood the improvements required and that the regulator would continue to monitor progress to help keep people safe.

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