In NSFT’s words: Unallocated cases

“Inability to provide an individual practitioner to every Service User in Central Adult Community

There are a growing number of unallocated clinical cases in the Central Locality who require Care Coordination or Lead Care Professional alignment which could result in a lack of timely intervention if required.

last recorded unallocated numbers awaiting caseload allocation is 381.”

The current dangerous situation in mental health community teams is going to become much, much worse when the Section 75 agreement between Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) and Norfolk County Council (NCC) ends in three weeks, with the resulting disintegration of health and social care in mental health services. Teams which previously worked together will have separate budgets, record systems, geographical areas, lines of management, targets and strategic priorities as social workers now working for NSFT transfer to NCC. The change will see hundreds of changes in allocated care coordinator – hardly continuity of care.

This retrograde step, driven by the pressures of austerity, will see budgets cut further still and destroys much of the progress of the last decade in mental health – we know that the change will cost NSFT approximately £900,000 and NCC is planning to cut budgets. It is the opposite of the ‘integration’ and ‘parity of esteem’ which Norman Lamb, the duplicitous local MP and Secretary of State at the Department of Health responsible for mental health, claims he wants to see. But it is the result of his Government’s actions and policies.

NSFT has known about the section 75 contract loss since January 2014 but has only started working on a transition plan in the last few days. Staff don’t even know where they’ll be working. This change isn’t even on the risk register presented at the last NFST Board meeting. While this disaster unfolds, Jonathon Fagge, the £115,000 p.a. Chief Executive of Norwich CCG, continues to tweet, blog, breakfast and workshop about ‘integration’ and ‘innovation’ as though nothing is happening.

Astonishing, depressing and dangerous.

NSFT Risk Register Unallocated Cases

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