40th Day of Lent: Going without a real assessment within four hours – Spot the Difference Competition

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 […]

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37th Day of Lent: Going without fit for purpose Access & Assessment

The centrepiece of the ‘radical redesign’, the Access & Assessment Team (AAT) consistently failed, month after month, to meet its performance targets for two out of every three assessments in 2013. Many people who were referred in January of this year are receiving phone calls now, in April, three months later. Access & Assessment delivers

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36th Day of Lent: Going without enough beds

Last week, there were 21 patients placed beyond Norfolk & Suffolk by Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). That means as far away as Bradford, Weston-Super-Mare, Hastings, Dorking, or London. These are not ‘specialist placements’ but patients who could be treated on an open acute ward, such as Waveney Ward, Glaven Ward , or the now-closed Thurne Ward

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35th Day of Lent: Going without an assessment for three months and then given an appointment more three hours away by public transport

‘S’ writes: “One of my neighbours lives in South Norfolk, in the Diss area. He has been under under-65 services for many years as he has suffered from the enduring mental health issue of depression. This ebbs and flows; this year he is very low in mood, he was discharged from the service because they felt

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33rd Day of Lent: Going without the NHS

This shocking story has been shared by ‘Ben’ (name has been changed). It sadly shows another failure caused by the inability of the post cuts, post ‘radical redesign’ Adult Mental Health Services of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) to consistently respond to people in crisis in a timely and appropriate way. However, this

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32nd Day of Lent: Going without listening to warnings

The warnings below are from an email sent more than sixteen months ago by a carer to Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). The email containing these quotations was sent on 22nd November 2012. This email provides evidence that the Operations Director of NSFT knew and admitted that demand for beds was rising as long ago

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30th Day of Lent: Going without £161,965.32 spent in SIX months on an interim Finance Director at NSFT

The Freedom of Information Department at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust writes: “Thank you for your recent request under the Freedom of Information Act. I can confirm the following:- The Interim Finance Director is supplied to the Trust via the agency Green Park Interim and Executive Limited. Costs in relation to this role for

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29th Day of Lent: Going without beds for both husband and wife

Luke writes: “A few weeks ago an 86 year old man needed admission. He was sectioned, and after FOUR hours of phone calls a bed was eventually found… in SCUNTHORPE. Yes, the nearest available bed to Norfolk and Suffolk was SCUNTHORPE. However, there was no ambulance service available to take him, private or public. So, his

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28th Day of Lent: Going without basic numeracy skills

Abraham writes: “We all know that spending £7.3 million on redundancies when there are 361 vacancies at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is an outrageous scandal which threatens the safe delivery of services to the vulnerable, as well as an extraordinary waste of money. Sometimes, it is whispered that the purpose of the

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27th Day of Lent: Going without hope of genuine consultation and influence

Rachel writes: “Carers once believed that Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) listened to the views of people with mental health problems and their carers. Currently, people are unable to understand why NSFT’s Carer and Service User Councils bar attendance from people who use mental health services and their carers. This exclusive policy is

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26th Day of Lent: Going without an ‘enhanced CRHT’

Sebastian writes: “The Central Cluster CRHT have had to give up nine band six staff, those who are most experienced and qualified in the Team; they carry out the risk assessments and provide leadership to the Team. They have all been downgraded to Band five under a dubious process; four of them have been transferred

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25th Day of Lent: Going without an assigned care co-ordinator

William writes: “Due to team members leaving & maternity cover, we’re being told to move patients to a ‘team-held pot’ rather with duty expected to pick them up rather than allocating a care co-ordinator. It is an unusual practice and who is accountable? As duty is covered by existing team members, it is still adding

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24th Day of Lent: Going without… carers being listened to

Rebecca writes: “Carers of children who develop mental illness cling onto hope – initially, hope for a complete cure. The shock of a child’s personality altered by incurable mental illness, with their future in jeopardy, takes years to understand. Gradually acceptance emerges with the constant hope that the cared for person attains insight into his

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23rd Day of Lent: Going without the support of our own MPs – Open Letter

Dear Norfolk & Suffolk Members of Parliament, We are a group of mental health staff, people who use services and members of the community who are deeply concerned about the impact of cuts forced on our mental health trust. Today we are walking side by side from the office of Ben Gummer MP in Ipswich

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22nd Day of Lent: Going without… family life and school

Elizabeth writes: “I live with my parents and younger brother in rural Norfolk. During the summer last year, my older brother, who is under the care of the Youth Team came back to live with us, following problems with his land-lady. During early December, we had to call the police out, and then, in mid-December,

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21st Day of Lent: Going without… Carlton Court

Orwell Housing Association moves into Carlton Court One of the saddest moments of the sham consultation meeting in Beccles was in many respects the most damning. A former governor of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), and pretty much the sole member of the audience to support the NSFT Board, said what a wonderful job

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20th Day of Lent: Going without the Dementia Intensive Support Team (DIST) that NSFT promised

Just as the last of the public consultation meetings took place in Beccles, it emerged that Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is closing its Dementia Intensive Support Team (DIST) at the James Paget University Hospital. The DIST is a key component of the sham consultation proposals on which Great Yarmouth & Waveney Clinical

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19th Day of Lent: Going without representative non-executives on NSFT Board

“The least gender diverse body included in the whole survey was the Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, with all eight board members being men and none from a BAME background.” Based upon research published by the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality.

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