MENTAL healthcare services in north Kent are some of the worst in the country, according to a report by the Healthcare Commission.

Inspectors for the health watchdog ranked Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust in the bottom 20 per cent of England’s NHS trusts for mental healthcare, putting it 57th out of 69 services reviewed.

The trust, which runs acute inpatient wards and a psychiatric intensive care unit at Little Brook Hospital, Dartford, was also ranked the worst performer in the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority, which covers Kent, Sussex and Surrey.

The review, commissioned because of concerns over the quality of mental health services across the country, gave the trust a rating of two out of four, describing its services as “fair”.

The trust welcomed the review and said progress had been made on many of its weaker areas.

However, the trust did admit more needed to be done to ensure early discharges from hospital, follow-ups with patients, and physical health checks on admission.

A spokesman said: “We are committed to closely examining every part of the review to ensure all of our services make improvements in all areas.”

Full story in this week's Messenger, out on Thursday