EDP: ‘The system is broken’ – emergency mental health 999 incidents double

12 Comments / Bed Crisis, CAMHS Crisis, Campaigning, Car Crash, Community Crisis, CQC Inspection, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, Deaths Crisis, Meltdown, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board, Revolving Doors, s136 Crisis, Section 75, Special Measures / By

Dominic Gilbert of the Eastern Daily Press reports: Urgent mental health-related incidents attended by police officers have almost doubled in four years as pressures on the 999 service grow. Coinciding with the ‘radical redesign’ and ruthless cuts to mental health community, crisis and home treatment teams and beds; the closure of assertive outreach and homeless […]

EDP: ‘The system is broken’ – emergency mental health 999 incidents double Read More »

Fixed, Flawed Farce: Part 1: ‘No decisions about me, without me’

15 Comments / Bed Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, Deaths Crisis, Kept in the dark, NSFT - A Warning from History, NSFT Cuts, PR Crisis, Questions for the Board, s136 Crisis / By

Below is a list of the people interviewed in the so-called ‘wide range of engagement meetings with local stakeholders’ during the £58,000 Beds Review. Thirty-nine are senior employees of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). Five are commissioning bureaucrats. None are service users. None are bereaved relatives. None are carers. None are from patient

Fixed, Flawed Farce: Part 1: ‘No decisions about me, without me’ Read More »

EDP Front Page: Mental health patient kept in Norfolk police cell for three days

1 Comment / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, CQC Inspection, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board / By

Tom Bristow of the Eastern Daily Press reports: A mental health patient was kept in a police cell for three days in King’s Lynn because no bed could be found for him. A second person needing mental health treatment was detained at Aylsham police station for 36 hours as the region’s mental health service struggled

EDP Front Page: Mental health patient kept in Norfolk police cell for three days Read More »

Guardian: Police says its forces are becoming emergency mental health services

20 Comments / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board, s136 Crisis / By

Vikram Dodd in the Guardian reports: Police say they are being relied on as an emergency mental health service and that cuts in psychiatric provision are probably to blame, the Guardian has learned. Officers point to an increase of more than 50% in a decade in the use of powers to detain people under section

Guardian: Police says its forces are becoming emergency mental health services Read More »

Campaign statement to Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) on unexpected deaths at NSFT

1 Comment / Bed Crisis, Campaigning, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board / By

Penny, a Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) carer, spoke on behalf of our campaign at the Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) of Norfolk County Council today: Thank you for the opportunity of addressing you on behalf of the Campaign about issues arising from the Verita report. I am the nearest relative

Campaign statement to Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) on unexpected deaths at NSFT Read More »

Private Eye: Mental Health: Fatal Admission… and how the unexpected deaths at NSFT keep on increasing

Leave a Comment / Bed Crisis, Campaigning, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT - A Warning from History, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board, Recruitment Crisis / By

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.

Private Eye: Mental Health: Fatal Admission… and how the unexpected deaths at NSFT keep on increasing Read More »

Inquest into the death of Christopher Higgins concluded today: Coroner reports requesting changes to protect the lives of mental health patients in the future

62 Comments / Bed Crisis, Campaigning, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board / By

Christopher Higgins was a 36 year old man, who in the last few weeks of his life suffered from his first, but acute, mental breakdown. In those last weeks, his family tried every avenue to get Christopher the help he needed. Christopher’s mental state deteriorated significantly and in the early hours of 25 June 2013,

Inquest into the death of Christopher Higgins concluded today: Coroner reports requesting changes to protect the lives of mental health patients in the future Read More »

EDP: ‘Tell my family I am sorry’ – the first words of mental health patient Christopher Higgins after fall which would prove fatal

Leave a Comment / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board / By

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.”

EDP: ‘Tell my family I am sorry’ – the first words of mental health patient Christopher Higgins after fall which would prove fatal Read More »

BBC News: Mental health death after Norfolk and Suffolk trust failure

1 Comment / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board / By

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 »

Daily Mail: EXCLUSIVE: NHS more than DOUBLES spending on private beds for mental health patients after slashing hundreds of its own beds – to save money

1 Comment / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, Financial crisis, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board / By

“In some areas, bed cuts were drastic. One trust alone, Norfolk and Suffolk, axed 74 mental health beds from its stock of 322 in just two years – a cut of almost a quarter.” Local MP Norman Lamb must be so proud of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) and his legacy as the

Daily Mail: EXCLUSIVE: NHS more than DOUBLES spending on private beds for mental health patients after slashing hundreds of its own beds – to save money Read More »

In the cells: Breach of human rights so common that Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies have a standard complaint letter

3 Comments / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, CQC Inspection, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board, s136 Crisis / By

It is happening again this weekend. No beds. No accountability. No responsibility. Norman Lamb claims to be a champion of the mentally ill with his self-promotional but resourceless gimmicks such as sponsored bike rides, the Cashless Concordat and ‘parity of esteem‘. The truth is that mental health services have been cut in real terms while

In the cells: Breach of human rights so common that Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies have a standard complaint letter Read More »

Video: Channel 4 News – Mental health: too many patients, not enough beds

Leave a Comment / Bed Crisis, CAMHS Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board, s136 Crisis / By

Try the video contained in this link if the embedded video below doesn’t play on your phone or tablet. If that doesn’t work you’ll need to try on a computer or different device. Sorry, we don’t make the Channel 4 video player.

Video: Channel 4 News – Mental health: too many patients, not enough beds Read More »

Newsflash: Campaign on Channel 4 News tonight at seven – Mental health: too many patients, not enough beds

4 Comments / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, Financial crisis, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board, s136 Crisis / By

Beds full There have been times in the past couple of years when they have sent 30 or 40 people sometimes hundreds of miles away because their beds have been full. A new management team has recently been brought in and they have managed to reduce this to seven or eight. But when I asked

Newsflash: Campaign on Channel 4 News tonight at seven – Mental health: too many patients, not enough beds Read More »

Scroll to Top