THE organisation responsible for mental health services in Wiltshire has received mixed results following a nationwide survey into care.

Wiltshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) funds care for people with mental disorders in the county, through the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.

It runs centers across the county including Charter House in Trowbridge.

On Wednesday this week the independent Government-financed health watchdog the Healthcare Commission published the results of the largest ever review of acute inpatient mental health services.

It gave trusts a score out of 100 for each of the areas it asked questions about.

In Wiltshire and Avon the best results were reserved for the care and treatment the patients received from the community psychiatric nurse.

On the whole the nurses listened to patients, engendered a relationship of trust and treated the patients with respect and dignity. Thanks to the nurses the trust scored 77/100 in that category.

Care co-ordinators were also given praise and they scored 71/100 for their work with the people they care for.

Patients also had good things to say about the care and treatment from psychiatrists. They said psychiatrists definitely listened carefully to them, treated them with respect and dignity and made time to discuss their condition. The trust scored 69/100.

However, when judged on the level of support for carers or family members the trust scored poorly.

On the whole patients said their family carers had not been given enough information about their condition.

Patients also said that support for their carers from health and social services was minimal. The trust scored 32/100.

The trust was also criticised for the level at which it involved the patients in their own rehabilitation and care.

Fewer than half said they had enough say in decisions about their care and only half said their diagnosis had been discussed with them. The trust scored 46/100.

Sally Thomson, director of nursing at the mental health care partnership, said: "Since the review, we have significantly improved services by listening to our communities, commissioners and our independent reviewers. This has already resulted in some major improvements.

"We take our responsibility to service users extremely seriously, and are committed to ensuring safe, high quality services across all 16 adult wards within the Trust. We are confident that we have, and will be able to address any areas of concern to ensure that we continue to provide the right care, at the right place at the right time."

A spokesman for Wiltshire PCT said they were working with the mental healthcare partnership to address weaknesses raised in the report.