EDP: Heartbroken family say Norfolk teenager received poor mental health care

More high quality reporting from David Powles into the treatment, or lack of treatment, of Kieran Fulcher on the front page of the EDP.

Why does the press have to do the job of our politicians and NHS bureaucracy, just as it had to at Mid Staffs? The upper echelons of the NHS behave as though the Francis Report was never written.

What are the Magnificent Seven CCGs, Healthwatch Norfolk, Healthwatch Suffolk, the Department of Health, NHS England, Monitor and the Care Quality Commission doing for their money?

What is the new Minister of State for Community and Social Care at the Department of Health, Alistair Burt, doing about this shameful crisis in mental health services?

We know our MPs are well aware of what is happening from their constituents but most of them say nothing in public and do little in private.

Where is the sense of urgency?

It isn’t as though they don’t all know there is a crisis at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

The Kafkaesque NHS Bureaucracy continues to play the NHS Blame Game. Meanwhile families are let down.

The devastated family of a Norfolk teenager who has been sectioned due to mental health problems have told of the many failings in care they believe he faced.

The family of 19-year-old Kieran Fulcher claim the issues in the care from the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) highlight the devastating impact cuts to the service are having. The trust is currently in special measures and facing millions of cuts to services.

The former City College Norwich student is finally receiving treatment at a specialist centre in Ipswich, five months after his family first raised concerns about his behaviour.

In that time, they say problems they faced include:

– a five-month wait for him to see a psychiatrist, despite their repeated pleas;

– no single point of contact during the time they dealt with the trust;

– being passed from pillar to post because they were on the Norfolk and Suffolk border;

– promises that he would receive specialist care being broken at the last minute.

National cuts to blame?

The Fulcher family are keen to emphasise they have nothing against the efforts of many of the staff who have tried to help their son. They believe they are working to the best of their abilities, but being hindered by a lack of expertise around people with learning difficulties and the impact of cash cuts imposed by central government.

Read the full story by clicking on the image below to visit the website of the EDP: