3rd Day of Lent: Going without… dedicated Assertive Outreach (AO) teams

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Dr Geraldine Strathdee, NHS England’s national clinical director for mental health recently told Community Care: “I know there are a number [of Trusts] saying ‘we won’t have a crisis/home treatment team. Instead we’ll put that crisis team function, or that assertive outreach function, into generic services’. I’d urge anyone going with that approach to really

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Video: BBC Look East on the CAMHS Bed Shortage

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This is an excellent piece of journalism looking at the bed shortage for young people. The BBC visits an oversubscribed child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) unit in Essex, The St Aubyn Centre, built by North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Sadly, but unsurprisingly: Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is the trust

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2nd Day of Lent: Going without adequate resources, reliable appointments or reasonable waiting times

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Footyfan says: “When is this NHS Trust going to realise that whilst community-based care and treatment is great and looks to be the way forward, they must provide adequate resources for it to work? As a family that accesses this service I have to say the organisation of it is terrible; we worked out the

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1st Day of Lent: Going without a face-to-face consultation with a psychiatrist for a whole year but being prescribed high potency mood-stabilisers anyway.

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Rachel writes: “Meeting face-to-face with your psychiatrist is not for a chat. A consultation is imperative if the patient is to fully understand the nature of any medications they are prescribed and the possible and potentially very dangerous side-effects. The psychiatrist also has an opportunity to further know their patient and assess if the prescription

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Letter from Approved Mental Health Practitioners (AMHPs) of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) to North Norfolk CCG

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The recipients of this letter were North Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) with copies to Great Yarmouth & Waveney CCG (Healtheast), Norwich CCG, Norman Lamb – Minister of State for Care and Support and MP for North Norfolk, Harold Bodmer – Director of Adult Care Social Services at Norfolk County Council and the Care Quality Commission

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EDP: Mental health trust looks overseas to help fill hundreds of vacancies

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A very good piece of reporting from Adam Gretton of the EDP covering the recruitment crisis at NSFT and its desperate plans to recruit from Portugal and Ireland despite making skilled and experienced staff redundant at a cost of £7.3 million – many of whom haven’t even left yet! A mental health trust, which has

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Demonstration: Hellesdon Hospital, Saturday 1st March 10 a.m.

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We are holding a demonstration outside Hellesdon Hospital on Saturday 1st March to highlight both the unannounced and scandalous plans to close 13 hostel beds at Hellesdon Hospital and the deepening crisis in mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk. Join us at the main entrance to Hellesdon Hospital at 10 a.m. We chose a

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Recruitment crisis: NSFT forced to try to recruit in Ireland & Portugal having spent £7.3 million on redundancies in 2013/4

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“NSFT is facing unprecedented challenges around recruitment, meaning a significant change in our approach is required. In January 2014, the Director of Nursing and Governance reported to the Board on a number of specific services that were experiencing unusual events or circumstances. The Board were made aware that these events were impacting on clinical quality. One

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Audio: BBC Radio Norfolk Breakfast Show interview of Emma Corlett of Unison about results of NHS Staff Survey at NSFT

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  Yet again Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) cannot find a single member of the NSFT Board, which pays itself more than £750,000 per year, to appear on the BBC to talk about the NHS Staff Survey. There is a particularly illuminating response from a member of staff about NSFT’s reaction to the

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Cost of the NSFT redundancy programme 2013/14 from NSFT’s own financial reports

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The Trust has reduced the year end forecast surplus from £1.9m to £1.6m due to the overall TSS and catering redundancy costs for 2013/14 exceeding the £4.8m specific provision.  The projected total redundancy cost for the year is now £7.3m. NSFT has spent £2.5 million more than the £4.8 million specific provision for redundancies and a very

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EDP: Staff satisfaction decreases at Norfolk and Suffolk mental health trust, according to survey

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For how much longer can the Chair and non-executive directors of NSFT bury their heads in the sand and give unconditional support to the executive directors responsible for this failed, hubristic ‘radical redesign’ and the consequent and worsening crisis in mental health care in Norfolk and Suffolk? Click on the image below to read the

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NHS Staff Survey 2013 – Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) 2nd worst performing mental health trust in England – official

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These results are appalling. They are not only bottom quartile, using the quartile methods so beloved of the Operations Director, they are bottom quartile of the bottom quartile, worst of the worst. Some of the NSFT Board and ‘leadership team’ like to blame this campaign for appalling staff morale. This survey was carried out before

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Audio: Recording of sham consultation public meeting on NSFT bed closures in Lowestoft on 13th February 2014

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If you at all interested in the crisis in mental health in Norfolk and Suffolk, this is an essential recording. Listen to the Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) executives directly challenged by service users, carers, staff and members of the public, many of them members of this campaign. Congratulations to Great Yarmouth &

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Campaign governors needed at NSFT

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The governing body of the Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has failed to properly scrutinise the non-executive directors of the Trust and does not reflect the opinions of the majority of its stakeholders. This failure of corporate governance is an important factor in the worsening crisis in mental health services in Norfolk and

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BBC: Mental health patients ‘failed’ says report on Hellesdon Hospital

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North Norfolk MP and health minister Norman Lamb said: “The CQC has found that the hospital is sometimes failing to respect privacy, dignity and independence. It is now critical that the trust responds with a genuine sense of urgency to rectify the concerns raised by the CQC.” Emma Corlett, Unison union spokeswoman for staff at

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