We’re working hard to bring the crisis in mental health services at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) to national attention. The crisis isn’t over. The CCGs and NSFT promised there would be no out of area placements beyond April 2014. That promise broken, there is now a dangerous Waiting List of Shame to […]
Hat tip to The Independent.
Kept in the Dark: Whitewash? The Alexander Report Read More »
Our decision to publish the chain of emails between our campaign and Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) finally forced a response from Michael Scott, the £175,000 per year Chief Executive of NSFT, on 30th April 2015. We submitted our original FOI request in December 2014. NSFT is supposed to respond in 20 days.
We originally wrote to NHS England in September 2014 – more than seven months ago. Firstly, we wanted to discover what the chief architect of the radical redesign and Operations Director (Norfolk) of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) was doing after Michael Scott emailed staff announcing her promotion to work for Geraldine Strathdee,
Tom Bristow of the EDP reports: Monitor, which placed the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) in special measures in February, has arranged for staff from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to improve services and staffing levels in Norfolk and Suffolk. Monitor said in a statement: “Access to this advice and expertise will enable Norfolk
EDP: Troubled mental health service to get help from Nottingham Read More »
On 16th April, the Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee of Norfolk County Council held a meeting to review the disastrous ‘radical redesign‘ at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). The Chief Executive of NSFT, Michael Scott, was accompanied by the Operations Director (Norfolk), Debbie White, and the Locality Operations Manager in West Norfolk, Marcus Hayward.
Norman Lamb called our campaign ‘mental health extremists‘ for simply pointing out that Norman Lamb claims to be a mental health champion whilst cutting mental health funding and services. Now the £600 million’s worth of Norman Lamb’s duplicity is clear for all to see. What kind of ‘drive for parity of esteem’ results in the
The average salary of staff at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) fell by £4,796 (18%) in just three years from £26,557 to £21,761 between 2011 and 2014. Mental health services were trashed as part of the failed ‘radical redesign’ which resulted in NSFT being rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Monitor
Bizarrely, this report leaves The Guardian as the only quality daily newspaper which has not reported on the crisis at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). For how long can what many regard as the natural newspaper of the caring professions ignore what is going on the constituency of the minister responsible for mental
The Times: Officials seize control of shamed trust Read More »
These results are appalling. They are not only bottom quartile, they are bottom quartile of the bottom quartile, absolutely the worst of the worst. Overall staff engagement – NSFT is worst of the 57 mental health trusts in England by miles – even worse than last year Staff motivation at work – NSFT is worst of
Nic Rigby of the BBC reports: A mental health trust has become the first in England to be put in special measures. NHS regulator Monitor will send a team to take over the management of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. The decision comes after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reported that the trust was
BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk health trust in special measures Read More »
Tom Bristow of the EDP reports: Special measures will see the appointment of an “improvement director” to provide expertise and hold the trust to account, and arranging a partnership with a high-performing trust. Monitor has also imposed a new condition on NSFT’s licence, enabling the regulator to take further action, such as replacing members of
EDP: Norfolk’s mental health service put in special measures Read More »
NSFT becoming the first mental health trust to be put into special measures was inevitable following the damning CQC inspection and the financial black hole. Our main concern is that service users and frontline staff are not made to pay the price of the NSFT Board’s wasted millions with further cuts to already inadequate services.
Campaign Statement on Monitor putting NSFT into Special Measures Read More »
Laura Donnelly of the Daily Telegraph reports: Sir Robert believes that many of the worst failings in the NHS occur when clinical staff become powerless — are left “shrugging their shoulders” rather than challenging poor care. As he made a public call for evidence, he told The Telegraph that he feared too many had been hounded out
Andy McNicoll reports: A man who had expressed suicidal thoughts was failed by two NHS trusts in the days before he was found dead in a river, an investigation by the health service ombudsman has found. Stephen Foster, 48, was found dead on 23 June 2011. Today, the ombudsman published the findings of an investigation
A sad lesson in how to get it so very, very wrong So, those who suggested the emperor was parading naked, and not clad in new finery, have been proved right. The very birth of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust was accompanied by a chorus of warnings: about jobs; about finance; and – crucially – about care. Critics
EADT Editorial: A sad lesson in how to get it so very, very wrong Read More »
Norman Lamb MP appears on itv NEWS Anglia as a campaigner, a self-proclaimed mental health champion: “It is misguided to think that you can reduce spending in mental health and not expect consequences to that” So, who is the Minister of State at the Department of Health directly responsible for mental health who has overseen
Video: itv NEWS Anglia – Mental Health Trust condemned as inadequate Read More »
The Daily Telegraph reports on the CQC Inspection of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). The Telegraph also carries a link to the Aidan ‘I’m no Dirty Den’ Thomas email story which will bring back difficult memories to many readers, especially employees of NSFT and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT). Click on
Daily Telegraph: Special measures threat for Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust Read More »
We were all delighted to meet Andy McNicoll, deservedly Mind Mental Health Journalist of the Year, at our campaign meeting yesterday. Ethical investigative journalism is a critical component in our campaign and Andy McNicoll’s work with the BBC’s Michael Buchanan has been of the highest quality. In November 2013 a campaign led by frontline staff
This is shocking. How could Norman Lamb even consider handing ownership of mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk to these people? Leadership, morale and staff engagement The board had some significant changes over the past year. There was a relatively new chair who had been in post just over a year. The chief executive was
CQC Report: Shocking leadership, morale and staff engagement at NSFT Read More »
