BBC News: Norfolk & Suffolk trust records its highest number of unexpected mental health deaths

The BBC reports:

An NHS mental health service, which was the first in England to be placed in special measures, has recorded its highest number of unexpected deaths.

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) recorded 157 deaths in 2014-15, compared to 88 deaths in 2012-13.

Verita, which the trust instructed to carry out the investigation, said NSFT was not doing enough to establish why the deaths were happening.

It was both humbling and inspiring to see the father of Christopher Higgins, Jon, at today’s NSFT board of directors meeting. Jon quite rightly told the directors of NSFT that the rise in unexpected deaths ‘a disaster’.

The number of unexpected deaths is still rising. In the most recent month available, March 2016, there were 17 deaths. Shameful.

In the first three months of the year there were 45 unexpected deaths.

If this continues, there will be 180 unexpected deaths this year.

Typically, NSFT seeks to have its cake and eat it, claiming that national comparisons are impossible with non-standardised data whilst simultaneously claiming that everything is fine because the number of deaths is below the national average.

The presentation by the Director of Nursing, Jane Sayer, at today’s meeting completely ignored the fact that, on present trend, unexpected deaths this year will be at least double the number in 2012-13 when the disastrous radical redesign was implemented.

Read the story in full on the BBC News website by clicking on the image below:

BBC News Norfolk and Suffolk trust records its highest number of unexpected mental health deaths

3 thoughts on “BBC News: Norfolk & Suffolk trust records its highest number of unexpected mental health deaths”

  1. What struck me most in Michael Scott’s interview on Look East last night was his response when asked, about the affects a death has on a family; ‘I’ve met with two fathers this week, and I know very well what affect it has on the family’. No words of sympathy, compassion, contrition,  no emotion, or apology there.  Michael I can tell you YOU DON’T know what its like to loose a child that’s under the care of the NHS whom you should be able to trust, unless its happened to you. For all I know could have been reading from a prepared script. Does he really mean anything he says.????

  2. Scott is the worst kind of ideologically driven talking head. Only a week ago he was creeping around the Fermoy unit like some kind of second rate undertaker with Henry Bellingham in tow. The thing people need to understand is that despite the constant emollient mood music from the politicians (and I include board level NHS staff in that category) there is no way that services will improve. This is because there is simply not the money to provide enough decent staff to provide a quality service. The trusts and the CQC are now locked in a death spiral of reporting and compliance, the ACTUAL care is irrelevant to both the trust and the CQC, all anyone cares about any more is the paperwork.

  3. Yes, we hear that the Trust has given staff time off to get their paperwork up to date for the coming CQC inspection. Better to give them time off from paperwork so that they can go and check on their most vulnerable patients.

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