Matthew Gudgin of the BBC interviews a spokesperson for our campaign, former mental health minister Norman Lamb and the Chief Executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), Michael Scott. It is brilliant that both the BBC and the EDP are giving mental health the attention it deserves. Now NHS England, local health commissioners […]
The Eastern Daily Press reports: The boss of Norfolk and Suffolk’s mental health trust has insisted the service is safe after “deeply distressing” data showing the highest number of “unexpected deaths” in the country, Michael Scott, chief executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Trust, said it would be a tragedy if people were being scared
More excellent investigative reporting from Nicholas Carding of the EDP, showing how people in crisis from Norfolk and Suffolk are being transported across the country due to a chronic lack of beds. We’re deeply concerned that some people in crisis are not getting a hospital bed at all. Let’s not forget that NSFT and North
EDP Front Page Exclusive: Passed from Pillar to Post Read More »
Andrew Hirst of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: More than a year after Steve Martin learned his mentally ill brother had died alone and amid filth and squalor, his quest for answers goes on. “A really good bloke, who’d do anything for a mate.” That’s how Steve Martin would like to remember his older
Victoria Leggett of itv News Anglia reports: Hundreds of people took to the streets of Norwich today to protest against cuts to mental health services. The march was organised by Norfolk and Suffolk Mental Health Crisis, a campaign group set up by front-line health staff and people who rely on the support of the NHS.
itv News Anglia: Hundreds take to the streets of Norwich for mental health cuts protest Read More »
Nicholas Carding of the EDP reports: Calls for better mental health services echoed around the centre of Norwich today as hundreds of people took part in a march to send a clear message to NHS leaders. Campaigners and politicians said action is needed now and called for steps to be taken at both local and
EDP: Marching for better mental health services Read More »
Click on the image below to watch Mark Summer’s excellent report for Mustard TV, Norfolk’s local television channel:
The government is making much of David Cameron’s mental health announcement today and any new money for mental health is welcome. Yet all of the figures are promises for total funding over the next five years. Mental health funding fell by at least £600 million per year during the last Parliament, when local MP Norman
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) plumbs the depths of infamy as the tragic and avoidable death of Christopher Higgins features in the current issue of Private Eye. The magazine cannot be read for free on the Internet but you can support investigative journalism by spending £1.80 on Issue 1409 at your local newsagent.
Dominic Gilbert of the EDP reports: The heartbreaking first words spoken by Christopher Higgins after he suffered what were to be fatal injuries in a fall at a mental health unit, have been heard at an inquest into his death. When he went to his aid, Mr Higgins said: “Tell my family I am sorry.”
Having our campaigning local media and one MP who genuinely cares about mental health makes such a difference. Annabelle Dickson, Political Editor of the EDP, reports: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health services would have almost £70m a year more if they were treated in the same way as physical health, the Norwich South MP has claimed.
EDP: Mental health patients in our region are being failed by the government, says MP Read More »
David Powles of the EDP has been investigating whether mental health has been receiving its fair share of NHS funding. The EDP has discovered that despite increasing demand and mental health services being rated Inadequate by the Care Quality Commission and Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) being in Special Measures, the unaccountable commissioners
EDP: Figures show that mental health funding in Norfolk and Suffolk is not keeping pace Read More »
David Powles of the EDP reports: Bosses of the trust used their recent AGM to proclaim of turning a corner, but Ms Corlett says while some things have improved – there’s a long way to go before staff feel that is the case. She explained: “A lot of staff still feel angry about how change
Nick Carding of the EDP reports exclusively: Campaigners say their “worst fears have been confirmed” after it emerged that the number of unexpected deaths of mental health patients in the region is continuing to rise. Figures published by the region’s mental health trust show more patients died unexpectedly in the first half of this financial
Andrew Hirst of the EDP reports: The Stepping Forward survey results presented in Ipswich at the Suffolk User Forum event was intended to show how far the NSFT had improved in the view of its service users after being placed in special measures earlier this year. Although the trust has agreed measures to improve since
Nic Rigby of the BBC reports: A mental health patient died after a “failure” to respond in a “timely way” by a stretched health trust team, a report says. The Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust report said there were “serious capacity issues” with its crisis resolution team. It says another death occurred after a patient
BBC News: Mental health death after Norfolk and Suffolk trust failure Read More »
Helen Gilburt, a fellow in health policy at The King’s Fund, writes: The example of Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust provides a stark reminder of the risks associated with undertaking whole-system transformation at scale and pace. To pre-empt increased financial risk and deliver efficiency savings, the trust engaged in delivering a vision of implementing recovery-orientated
Andrew Hirst of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: Unison at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Trust backs King’s Fund’s warnings over mental health funding. Unison at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Trust said today’s findings of the King’s Fund’s report “came as no surprise and bears out a lot of the concerns that staff have
We challenged Gary Page, the Chair of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), to publish NSFT’s data on unexpected deaths after his report to the NSFT Board stated he was “concerned” at the increase in unexpected community deaths from 95 in 2013-14 to 130 in 2014-15. On the same day Gary Page refused to publish,
