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, […]
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.”
Having our campaigning local media and one MP who genuinely cares about mental health makes such a difference. Annabelle Dickson, Political Editor of the EDP, reports: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health services would have almost £70m a year more if they were treated in the same way as physical health, the Norwich South MP has claimed.
EDP: Mental health patients in our region are being failed by the government, says MP Read More »
David Powles of the EDP has been investigating whether mental health has been receiving its fair share of NHS funding. The EDP has discovered that despite increasing demand and mental health services being rated Inadequate by the Care Quality Commission and Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) being in Special Measures, the unaccountable commissioners
EDP: Figures show that mental health funding in Norfolk and Suffolk is not keeping pace Read More »
Nick Carding of the EDP reports exclusively: Campaigners say their “worst fears have been confirmed” after it emerged that the number of unexpected deaths of mental health patients in the region is continuing to rise. Figures published by the region’s mental health trust show more patients died unexpectedly in the first half of this financial
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 »
We challenged Gary Page, the Chair of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), to publish NSFT’s data on unexpected deaths after his report to the NSFT Board stated he was “concerned” at the increase in unexpected community deaths from 95 in 2013-14 to 130 in 2014-15. On the same day Gary Page refused to publish,
You can view the presentation in the Gallery below or download the slides as a pdf to view offline, distribute or print. The sources of the employment data are the various Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Annual Report and Accounts published between 2011 and 2015. The sources of the Serious Incident (SI)
You can download the poster for our 2nd Anniversary Public Meeting as a pdf to distribute or display by clicking on the image below. Please spread the word.
2nd Anniversary Public Meeting Poster to distribute or display Read More »
David Powles of the Eastern Daily Press reports: Michael Scott, Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust chief executive, pledged at yesterday’s AGM it had learned from its mistakes and promised that high quality, safe services would become ‘the norm not the exception’. However, his promises have been met with apprehension from mental health campaigners, who say
EDP: We’re at a turning point, says Norfolk and Suffolk mental health chief Read More »
Join us on Monday 2nd November 2015 for our second anniversary public meeting in Norfolk. Our meeting is taking place at the University of East Anglia in Lecture Theatre 1, 5.30-7.30 p.m. There is a location map below and you can download a campus map here. Our guest speaker is Owen Jones, influential thinker, newspaper
An internal investigation has been launched into mental health services in Suffolk and Norfolk after the number of patient deaths increased from 95 to 130 in a year. It means that the average number of deaths, including in accidents and suicides by people known to professionals to be living with a mental health disorder, has
Ellis Barker of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: An internal investigation has been launched into mental health services in Suffolk and Norfolk after the number of patient deaths increased from 95 to 130 in a year. It means the average number of deaths, including in accidents and suicides by people known to professionals to
“Ours is a moral campaign, founded in November 2013 by mental health staff deeply concerned about cuts and service closures at NSFT and what they believed was a cluster of preventable deaths caused by the so-called ‘radical redesign’ process. Those brave staff have been joined by more than two thousand users of mental health services,
A funeral every ten days: Campaign statement on the increase in deaths in the community Read More »
Nic Rigby of the BBC reports: The number of Norfolk and Suffolk mental health patient deaths has gone up from four to six a month between 2013 and 2015, it has been revealed. The 50% increase in the average number of deaths, excluding deaths by natural causes or those drug-related, goes before a trust meeting
BBC News: Concern at rise in mental health patient deaths Read More »
Lauren Cope of the EDP reports: A campaign to secure the long-term future of a women’s mental health unit, which last year battled closure, has been relaunched. Now, uncertainty over whether the CCGs will supply the four beds for another year means the Save Ashcroft campaign group has organised a second public meeting to bring
EDP: Campaign to secure Wicklewood mental health unit’s long-term future is relaunched Read More »
Nicholas Carding of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found staff at Beach Ward, in Hammerton Court, Julian Hospital, Bowthorpe Road, Norwich, had carried out incomplete record-keeping, incomplete risk-assessments, and that there was a “poor compliance with mental capacity assessments.” Beach Ward, run by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT),
EDP: Eight areas of concern found at one ward in Norfolk hospital Read More »
The Daily Mail has now picked up on the Press Association report of a national scandal. Click on the image below to read the story on the Daily Mail website:
Daily Mail: No mental health beds available in England, trust chief was told Read More »
Nikki Fox of the BBC reports on the meltdown in mental health services: An NHS trust was told there were no mental health beds available across England, its medical director has said. Dr Bohdan Solomka told the BBC on Sunday the lack of beds applied across the NHS and among private providers. This weekend, Norfolk
BBC News: NHS ‘had no mental health beds left’ Read More »
