BBC News: Fraud doctor Zholia Alemi: Drowned man’s family voiced fears

Nikki Fox and Julian Sturdy of the BBC report: The family of a drowned patient have claimed he might still be alive if the fake psychiatrist responsible for his care had done her job properly. Darren King, 31, of Suffolk, died after suffering a seizure in his bath in 2017. Mr King was living independently […]

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EDP: Mental health trust’s pledge to eradicate out of area placements by 2021

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The region’s mental health trust has pledged to eradicate the use of out of area beds by 2021. Oh dear. That’s three years away, a national target and seven years after commissioners’ original promise to end the use of out of area beds before the end of

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EDP: New mental health beds to be opened for children and young people

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: New mental health beds for children and young people are set to open in the region after a review found current services were not enough. At long last! We’ve been saying this should happen for more than four years. Commissioners, including the newly-imposed CEO of NSFT, Antek

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EDP: Mental health boss brands rejection of funding as ‘utterly indefensible’ as governors raise concern over recruitment figures

Gemma Mitchell of the Eastern Daily Press reports: A mental health boss has hit out and branded it ‘utterly indefensible’ that a bid for more than £5m which would be used to address safety concerns was snubbed by the government. We understand that the Improvement Director, imposed upon Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

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EADT: Suffolk patient moved 150 miles to Derbyshire mental health unit following Lark Ward closure

Gemma Mitchell of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: A Suffolk father is facing a six-hour round trip to visit his vulnerable son following the closure of a vital mental health unit in Ipswich. A Stowmarket man whose 20-year-old son is a patient on Lark Ward, based in the grounds of Ipswich Hospital, has spoken

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Healthwatch Suffolk condemns service user and carer engagement at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

Healthwatch Suffolk comments on the announcement of the closure of the Suffolk PICU by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT): Healthwatch Suffolk note with serious concern the news that the Lark Ward, a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) run by Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) at Woodlands, will close from Friday 6th April

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Audio: BBC Radio Norfolk: Matthew Gudgin interviews NSFT interim CEO Julie Cave and a campaigner about the closure of yet another 36 beds

Matthew Gudgin of the BBC interviews a spokesperson for our campaign and the interim Chief Executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), Julie Cave, about the closure of yet another 36 mental health beds in Norfolk and Suffolk. We are asked whether we have any confidence in the newly-appointed Chief Executive of NSFT,

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BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health beds closures ‘shocking’

The BBC reports: Thirty-six mental health beds are being closed by Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, eight of them permanently. Further details have emerged after it was revealed a mental health ward in Ipswich would be temporarily shut. The trust said the closures “were in the best interests of patients”. But the Campaign to

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EADT: ‘This is a humanitarian disaster’ – Mental health trust closes 36 beds

Gemma Mitchell of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: The region’s beleaguered mental health trust has had to shut 36 beds since autumn, it has been revealed. Beds have closed in Ipswich, Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. At least eight of the bed closures are permanent. Service users and carers and their organisations received little

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BBC News: Richard Handley: ‘Gross failures’ in constipation death

BBC News reports: A “missed opportunity” for potentially life-saving treatment contributed to the death of a man from constipation complications, an inquest has found. Richard Handley, 33, who had Down’s syndrome, died at Ipswich Hospital on 17 November 2012. Some 10kg (22lb) of faeces was removed from his body two days before. Coroner Dr Peter

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EDP: Norfolk clinical commissioning group one of just nine in England to miss mental health investment target as suicide rates soar

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: One of Norfolk’s clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is due to fall short of the amount of money it should be putting towards mental health despite latest figures showing the number of suicides in the area has rocketed. Research from the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) has shown

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EADT: Damning report finds Suffolk failing some children with special education needs leaving families ‘frustrated and confused’

Andrew Hirst of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: Families have had to “fight every step of the way” to get help for the children with the greatest needs in Suffolk. Waiting times for mental health services are said to have started to reduce demonstrating “necessary progress in an area that still requires significant further

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CAMHS Crisis: BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk NHS mental health facility has empty beds

Nikki Fox of the BBC reports: Mental health campaigners are “incredulous” five beds for children are unused when 20 patients are being treated “out of the area”. Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) created a 12-bed unit in Lowestoft, costing £1m, in September. NHS England said it provides funding to staff seven of the

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EADT: Will new children’s mental health unit in Suffolk solve ‘deeply troubling’ problem of young people in adult wards?

In another example of first-class investigative journalism, Andrew Hirst of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: Campaigners have welcomed plans for a new mental health unit for children in Suffolk after it emerged concerning numbers of young people from the region had been sent to adult wards – a practice described by one mother as

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EDP: Mother thought to have died from morphine overdose waited 12 days for mental health help

George Ryan of the EDP reports: A woman who may have died from a morphine overdose had to wait 12 days for a mental health assessment after concerns were raised, an inquest heard. Sister Caroline Butler, who works on the ward, contacted the mental health referral team on December 18, 2014, as she was concerned

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EDP: As mental health campaign launched, poignant video shows sufferer urging others to speak out a few months before she died

In another powerful piece of journalism, David Powles, Investigations Editor of the EDP, writes: At 26 years old, Jacqueline Boulton had so much to live for. Talented, caring, funny, intelligent – and so very loved by her family and friends. But her infectious smile masked the chronic depression which she suffered for so many years

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EDP: Anger as Suffolk adult mental health unit closes

David Powles of the EDP exclusively reports: Campaigners fear even more adult mental health patients will have to be sent outside of the region, after it was confirmed a unit to treat them in had been closed down. Yesterday, health bosses confirmed the remaining two patients had been transferred to the nearby Northgate Hospital in

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BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health funding plan prompts dispute

Nic Rigby of the BBC reports: Cash for future mental health provision in Norfolk and Suffolk has “fallen short” of what is needed, prompting a dispute with an NHS trust and a funder. Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust said funding offered by central Norfolk clinical commissioning groups (CCG) does not meet the “volume of demand”.

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Campaign’s evidence to Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) of Norfolk County Council on 16th April 2015

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.

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Audio: NSFT Deputy Director of Nursing tries to resolve ‘dire’ Waveney strike staffing crisis by ringing wrong person

Listen as the Deputy Director of Nursing at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), Michelle Allott, mistakenly rings a campaign supporter who left NSFT more than a year ago as she attempts to resolve a ‘dire’ crisis as ward and CRHT staff at Carlton Court wholeheartedly support the NHS strike:  

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