A mental health trust facing management problems and mistrust among staff is “not working well” with a “tolerance for bad behaviour”, an investigation has found.

NHS England visited Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in July and September after it underwent further scrutiny last November. The Jeremy Vanes Chair announced last week he had to retire.

The findings showed “an apparent disconnect from the board to frontline staff”, with some staff feeling isolated and disengaged.

The trust said it fully accepted the findings and was committed to addressing the issues and making improvements.

In May last year, the trust was told to improve tracking an inspection after several safeguarding incidentsincluding CCTV footage showing staff sleeping in a patient’s bed while he was left lying on the floor.

Last November doctors held a vote of no confidence in their management team and in August an independent investigation into the culture at the trust found distrust among staff at all levels and concerns about leadership.

Throughout 2024, external organizations continued to receive concerns about the trust, mostly anonymously, the trust said in documents for a board meeting Wednesday.

This prompted NHS England and the local integrated care board to carry out an investigative visit in July with a smaller team in September.

The subsequent report found that “staff across the organization feel that the board is not functioning well and is not able to resolve conflicts constructively.

“There was tolerance for bad behavior on board and a previous reluctance to address it,” it said.

All staff need to be worked on to ‘repair feelings of isolation’ and changes in medical leadership over the past year have affected the way the trust works, including relationships and trust between individuals.

“Considerable work is needed to improve culture across the organization – there is an apparent disconnect from the board to frontline staff,” the findings showed.

Some staff said they did not feel heard and some experienced a culture of blame, while there were tensions within the board.

In response, Marsha Foster, the trust’s chief executive, said in the board’s report that the trust was pleased that certain areas of strength had been highlighted, but that areas that were absolutely recognized and accepted for improvement had been highlighted.

“The findings of the investigation tell us many things that our colleagues, myself as chief executive and the wider board have come to understand with increasing clarity.

She added that the entire council was committed to improving, adding: “We don’t underestimate the extent of the changes that are needed.”