£175K Chief Executive of failed NSFT abandons mental health trust during CQC inspection to go on holiday

Antek Lejk, the Chief Executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), who was imposed despite service users and carers finding him unappointable, has decided to go on holiday while health professionals from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have congregated from across the country to inspect services at the failing mental health trust. We

£175K Chief Executive of failed NSFT abandons mental health trust during CQC inspection to go on holiday Read More »

Farewell Robert Nesbitt, ridiculously-titled ‘Company Secretary’

Robert Nesbitt retires as ‘Company Secretary’ at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) this week on a fine salary and pension. In many ways, the career of Robert Nesbitt exemplifies all that has gone wrong at NSFT. Before the merger which created NSFT, Robert Nesbitt was ‘Director of Community Engagement’ at Suffolk Mental Health

Farewell Robert Nesbitt, ridiculously-titled ‘Company Secretary’ Read More »

Campaign statement about bullying and abuse at NSFT

A spokesperson for the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services said: Last week, we ran a sentence or two about bullying and abuse at NSFT in our chronology outlining the role of the new Chief Executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Antek Lejk, in the out-of-hours deaths scandal. In a sadly typical example

Campaign statement about bullying and abuse at NSFT Read More »

EDP: ‘Tolerance of poor standards’ at mental health trust, report finds

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: A damning review into the leadership at the region’s mental health trust has identified a “tolerance of poor standards”, it can be revealed. We’ve been saying this since 2013. NHS Improvement, the national body which oversees health trusts, ordered the report into Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust

EDP: ‘Tolerance of poor standards’ at mental health trust, report finds Read More »

Chronology of a scandal: Antek Lejk’s role in the out-of-hours deaths scandal at NHS Cornwall

The Chair of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), Gary Page, has been claiming that the role of Antek Lejk in the out-of-hours scandal at NHS Cornwall was peripheral. However, we have spoken to clinicians and campaigners in Cornwall who have told us that Antek Lejk was central and a driving force of what

Chronology of a scandal: Antek Lejk’s role in the out-of-hours deaths scandal at NHS Cornwall Read More »

EDP: ‘I want to get my sleeves rolled up and improve things’ – New mental health boss sets out priorities

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The new boss of the region’s mental health trust has expressed his disappointment after it was revealed service users and carers gave him low scores during the interview process. The scores weren’t just low. The large and heterogeneous service user and carer appointment panel came to the

EDP: ‘I want to get my sleeves rolled up and improve things’ – New mental health boss sets out priorities Read More »

Press statement: Untrue and misleading statements made by Alistair Campbell

Yesterday, Alistair Campbell told the Eastern Daily Press: “On the one hand they’re saying services are terrible, and on the other hand they’re saying we don’t want any change. But there’s a bit of a big inconsistency in that. If they’re not happy with the services then at least look at some of the changes

Press statement: Untrue and misleading statements made by Alistair Campbell Read More »

EDP: Mental health trust’s pledge to eradicate out of area placements by 2021

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The region’s mental health trust has pledged to eradicate the use of out of area beds by 2021. Oh dear. That’s three years away, a national target and seven years after commissioners’ original promise to end the use of out of area beds before the end of

EDP: Mental health trust’s pledge to eradicate out of area placements by 2021 Read More »

EDP: Mental health boss brands rejection of funding as ‘utterly indefensible’ as governors raise concern over recruitment figures

Gemma Mitchell of the Eastern Daily Press reports: A mental health boss has hit out and branded it ‘utterly indefensible’ that a bid for more than £5m which would be used to address safety concerns was snubbed by the government. We understand that the Improvement Director, imposed upon Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

EDP: Mental health boss brands rejection of funding as ‘utterly indefensible’ as governors raise concern over recruitment figures Read More »

EADT: Suffolk patient moved 150 miles to Derbyshire mental health unit following Lark Ward closure

Gemma Mitchell of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: A Suffolk father is facing a six-hour round trip to visit his vulnerable son following the closure of a vital mental health unit in Ipswich. A Stowmarket man whose 20-year-old son is a patient on Lark Ward, based in the grounds of Ipswich Hospital, has spoken

EADT: Suffolk patient moved 150 miles to Derbyshire mental health unit following Lark Ward closure Read More »

Healthwatch Suffolk condemns service user and carer engagement at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

Healthwatch Suffolk comments on the announcement of the closure of the Suffolk PICU by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT): Healthwatch Suffolk note with serious concern the news that the Lark Ward, a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) run by Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) at Woodlands, will close from Friday 6th April

Healthwatch Suffolk condemns service user and carer engagement at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Read More »

Audio: BBC Radio Norfolk: Matthew Gudgin interviews NSFT interim CEO Julie Cave and a campaigner about the closure of yet another 36 beds

Matthew Gudgin of the BBC interviews a spokesperson for our campaign and the interim Chief Executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), Julie Cave, about the closure of yet another 36 mental health beds in Norfolk and Suffolk. We are asked whether we have any confidence in the newly-appointed Chief Executive of NSFT,

Audio: BBC Radio Norfolk: Matthew Gudgin interviews NSFT interim CEO Julie Cave and a campaigner about the closure of yet another 36 beds Read More »

BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health beds closures ‘shocking’

The BBC reports: Thirty-six mental health beds are being closed by Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, eight of them permanently. Further details have emerged after it was revealed a mental health ward in Ipswich would be temporarily shut. The trust said the closures “were in the best interests of patients”. But the Campaign to

BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health beds closures ‘shocking’ Read More »

EADT: ‘This is a humanitarian disaster’ – Mental health trust closes 36 beds

Gemma Mitchell of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: The region’s beleaguered mental health trust has had to shut 36 beds since autumn, it has been revealed. Beds have closed in Ipswich, Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. At least eight of the bed closures are permanent. Service users and carers and their organisations received little

EADT: ‘This is a humanitarian disaster’ – Mental health trust closes 36 beds Read More »

EDP: New mental health boss appointment branded ‘disastrous’ by campaigners

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The appointment of a new mental health boss has been branded “disastrous” by campaigners due to the new chief’s background in NHS funding. That means cuts. The STP’s own figures show that forty per cent of the ‘savings’ are due to funding not keeping up with inflation.

EDP: New mental health boss appointment branded ‘disastrous’ by campaigners Read More »

NHS Staff Survey 2017 – Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is appalling – yet again

Yet again, the NHS Staff Survey results are appalling. Even worse than 2016. The extremely expensive Comms Department at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) will try to spin these results, just as it did with the most recent CQC inspection which found that mental health services were unsafe for an unprecedented second time; that NSFT

NHS Staff Survey 2017 – Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is appalling – yet again Read More »

NOW RESCHEDULED: Protest: Against Greed, Mental Health Cuts and NHS Privatisation: ‘No to cuts, No to Branson, No to Lejk’: 1130-1200 Tuesday 1st May 2018: Carrow Road, Norwich NR1 1JE

The NHS bureaucracy have now rearranged their post cuts, pre privatisation jamboree ‘Breaking the Mould’. We will be there to protest against mental health cuts, NHS privatisation and the imposition of CCG hatchet man Antek Lejk as the Chief Executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) despite the objections of service users and

NOW RESCHEDULED: Protest: Against Greed, Mental Health Cuts and NHS Privatisation: ‘No to cuts, No to Branson, No to Lejk’: 1130-1200 Tuesday 1st May 2018: Carrow Road, Norwich NR1 1JE Read More »

EDP: Tranquilisation changes came too little too late for Norwich man, says sister

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: “The sister of a mentally ill man who died after being tranquillised in hospital has slammed the region’s mental health trust for not addressing problems with the practice sooner. And a inquest into his death found failings in the care he received from Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation

EDP: Tranquilisation changes came too little too late for Norwich man, says sister Read More »

Scroll to Top