EDP Front Page: Mental Health Crisis deepens

Crisis: What crisis?

Serious concerns that social care for adults with mental health issues in Norfolk is not good enough has led to the county council taking responsibility for the service away from the mental health trust.

Care of vulnerable Norfolk adults with mental health problems suffered a fresh blow after the plug was pulled on a £4m-a-year contract amid major concerns about provision.

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) was urged last year to urgently improve social care for adults suffering mental health issues.

For six years, social care for 18 to 65-year-olds with mental health problems has been provided by staff from NSFT. However, an independent review identified a number of areas for improvement and the NHS trust was given a year to address issues.

Terry Skyrme, of the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk, added: “It must throw their [NSFT’s] service strategy into chaos, but we do not know the full implications yet. We were integrated, but this is disintegration and it means more change and instability.”

We hope that the contract extension until September 2014 ensures a smooth transition and will monitor implementation to ensure that service users, carers, staff and service integration do not suffer as a consequence.

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EDP Mental Health Crisis Deepens

1 thought on “EDP Front Page: Mental Health Crisis deepens”

  1. We were told today that an outside agency consultant has been appointed to ‘ Project Manage’ the transfer of social care back to the Trust. How much will this cost? Why don’t they just listen to front-line staff as to what’s gone wrong, and then just put it right? My question is…do we have enough staff to deliver real social care to people with mental health difficulties? We have been told that even before we get back to Social Services they will be welcoming us with a £500.000 cut from the social care budget for mental health.

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