NSFT Masterclass: Chief Executive Michael Scott’s excuses for unexpected deaths more than doubling

When the Chief Executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) appeared before the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) of Norfolk County Council, he barely deployed a number, percentage or fact. Instead, Michael Scott gave a very long list of excuses, including:

“I’m not going to get into a numbers game”

“most people who end their lives are not in touch with mental health services”

“suicide rises with recession”

“we’re a high reporter”

“we provide drug and alcohol services”

“lessons learned”

“problems with national data”

“we’re a large trust”

None of which explains the more than doubling of the number of unexpected deaths of patients under the care of NSFT following vicious cuts to staffing and mental health services.

No wonder the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Norfolk County Council has written to the NSFT Chief Executive with more questions.

Here is the shameful graph again:

average-number-of-unexpected-patient-deaths-per-month-at-nsft-2012-to-2017

1 thought on “NSFT Masterclass: Chief Executive Michael Scott’s excuses for unexpected deaths more than doubling”

  1. Michael Scott might not want to get into the numbers game, but if he cannot do the sums himself others will do it for him. These are not numbers. These are people under the care of NSFT. Hopefully the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee will continue to monitor the rise in unexpected deaths of service users of the NSFT and encourage Michael Scott to acknowledge the numbers and not be so smug about being a high reporter. The NHS seems to have so many organisations checking up on the NSFT: CQC, HOSC, Healthwatch, MONITOR, Kings Fund, NHS England, non-executive directors, governors of Foundation Trusts… What are they doing to prevent the rise of deaths of people in the care of mental health trusts?

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