Fourteen months ago, when Unison sent the letter below, the Board of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) wasn’t campaigning for fairer funding for mental health. As recently as December 2013, the current NSFT Chair, Mr. Page, was claiming that it wasn’t appropriate for the NSFT Board to question mental health funding as this
Charlie Cooper writes in The Independent: A crisis in mental health care has been declared by NHS staff in East Anglia, across a region covering the constituencies of two government health ministers. Nurses say that it has become common for there to be no beds available for mental health patients in all of Norfolk and
The Independent: Mental-health patients driven hundreds of miles for treatment Read More »
Introduction to ‘Patient forced to sleep in lounge’ by James Gillespie: A MENTAL health patient who was admitted to hospital last week had to sleep in a lounge after staff could not find a bed within 180 miles. Staff at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) refer to such cases as “admission to
Newsflash: Tomorrow’s Sunday Times includes mental health crisis at NSFT Read More »
Watch the video below. If you are an Apple user and have trouble viewing the embedded video you can view it directly on Youtube. Sorry, this issue is a sometime side effect of the on-going war between Google and Apple which is beyond our control. If you don’t understand why this Downfall parody is satirical humour read this.
Downfall 2: The Trust (NSFT) Strikes Back Read More »
This is an example of how the Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Board, NSFT governors, Norfolk and Suffolk clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local MP and responsible minister, Norman Lamb, were warned of the largely predictable consequences of the ‘radical redesign’. Those who questioned whether the Operations Director’s ‘improvements’ would work safely were
We’re proud to have helped Michael Buchanan of the BBC and Andy McNicoll of Community Care in their excellent work exposing the scandalous bed crisis on the national stage. Even this year at the HealthEast consultations, the Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Operations Director continued to push for approval of the bed closures
Watch the video below. If you are an Apple user and have trouble viewing the embedded video you can view it directly on Youtube. Sorry, this issue is a sometime side effect of the on-going war between Google and Apple which is beyond our control. If you don’t understand why this Downfall parody is satirical humour read this.
Downfall video: NSFT leadership team in the Hellesdon Hospital bunker Read More »
Terry Skyrme, from the trust’s crisis team, said cutting staff and closing beds could put patients at risk. He said the trust had nearly 300 unallocated cases and keeping up with demand with fewer staff creates pressures. Mr Skyrme said: “Norwich patients are being sent for treatment to King’s Lynn or Great Yarmouth. “Others are
BBC: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health patients sent away for treatment Read More »
Remember this? Four months ago, Mark Taylor, chief executive of North Norfolk CCG, on behalf of all the central Norfolk CCGs, promised: “Although the numbers are small, we want it to end by April. As commissioners we do not want people to go out of area and we want to stop that as soon as
“Union members at the mental health trust serving care minister Norman Lamb’s north Norfolk constituency could be balloted on taking industrial action in protest at ‘serious safety concerns’ with services. The Unison branch at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust voted unanimously to start the process of holding a ballot for industrial action after Approved
As we predicted earlier this week, frustrated AMHPs at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) have called in the union. Unison today announced: Norfolk based Approved mental health practitioners (AMHPs) employed by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust TODAY met to discuss the ongoing bed crisis. The meeting, called by UNISON, heard from AMHPs
A member of a Norfolk Crisis Resolution & Home Treatment (CRHT) team at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) writes: “One of our senior managers was heard the other day asking: “How come a crisis team worker can only do five visits in a day?” Let’s look at the facts: We cover an area
Crisis team crisis: How long does it take to visit five patients? Read More »
“I read with great interest your article in Wednesday’s EDP about the plight of mental health patients in Norfolk. I am experiencing a situation in our family affected by the failings of mental health care in Norfolk. I would stress how kind, considerate and professional the very many mental health workers who have been involved
EDP Letters: Mental health care has failed a young person in my family Read More »
Click the images below to listen on iPlayer to the two morning shows featuring the crisis in mental health services at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT):
BBC Radio Norfolk: NSFT crisis in mental health services dominates morning schedule Read More »
We have written extensively about Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s (NSFT) botched redundancy programme which has wasted many millions of pounds and introduced unnecessary and unacceptable risks into the delivery of vital services. Now, exactly what we warned would happen is happening. This is the job advertisement for a band six Community Psychiatric Nurse
A campaign member on the coast tells us: “The alternative-to-admission arrangements for Laurel and Larkspur wards at Carlton Court have broken down. The residential home at Hopton has apparently lost three managers. Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has withdrawn the arrangement to have six beds with only two patients left awaiting removal .
Carlton Court: NSFT’s much-vaunted alternative-to-admission arrangements break down Read More »
We had a meeting recently with Norman Lamb, North Norfolk MP and Government Care Minister, and asked him why mental health is about to be cut by 20% more than other NHS services. He told us that, although the Health Minister had issued a mandate about ‘parity of esteem’ (what a stupid term), the directors
Furious but helpless: Is the NHS under democratic control? Read More »
Yesterday, a few of the truths told by this campaign emerged at the NSFT Board meeting in Norwich, as reported in the EDP: “Mental health chiefs have insisted they have a plan to tackle high caseloads after it emerged that almost 400 patients in Norfolk were waiting to be assigned to a community worker… This
EDP: Concern over pressure on mental health staff in Norfolk because of high caseloads Read More »
Today’s EDP reports on how Norfolk mental health patients have had to endure up to eight hour waits for ambulances. What this reported eight hours doesn’t include is the time waiting from an assessment by overburdened crisis teams or the often even longer waits while attempts are made to find an out-of-area bed in a
EDP: 999 Mental Health Crisis Read More »
Below, you’ll find the old Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Crisis Resolution & Home Treatment Team (CRHT) referral form and the current one. How many differences can you spot? Of course, the big difference between the old and the current form is the additional box entitled ‘CRHT Triage Contact within four hours of
