itv News Anglia: Hundreds take to the streets of Norwich for mental health cuts protest

Bed Crisis, CAMHS Crisis, Campaigning, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, Financial crisis, March for Mental Health, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board, Special Measures / By

Victoria Leggett of itv News Anglia reports: Hundreds of people took to the streets of Norwich today to protest against cuts to mental health services. The march was organised by Norfolk and Suffolk Mental Health Crisis, a campaign group set up by front-line health staff and people who rely on the support of the NHS.

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EDP: Marching for better mental health services

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Nicholas Carding of the EDP reports: Calls for better mental health services echoed around the centre of Norwich today as hundreds of people took part in a march to send a clear message to NHS leaders. Campaigners and politicians said action is needed now and called for steps to be taken at both local and

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Mustard TV: Hundreds march through Norwich as campaigners call for better mental health services

Bed Crisis, CAMHS Crisis, Campaigning, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, Financial crisis, March for Mental Health, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board, Recruitment Crisis / By

Click on the image below to watch Mark Summer’s excellent report for Mustard TV, Norfolk’s local television channel:

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Private Eye: Mental Health: Fatal Admission… and how the unexpected deaths at NSFT keep on increasing

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Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) plumbs the depths of infamy as the tragic and avoidable death of Christopher Higgins features in the current issue of Private Eye. The magazine cannot be read for free on the Internet but you can support investigative journalism by spending £1.80 on Issue 1409 at your local newsagent.

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Inquest into the death of Christopher Higgins concluded today: Coroner reports requesting changes to protect the lives of mental health patients in the future

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Christopher Higgins was a 36 year old man, who in the last few weeks of his life suffered from his first, but acute, mental breakdown. In those last weeks, his family tried every avenue to get Christopher the help he needed. Christopher’s mental state deteriorated significantly and in the early hours of 25 June 2013,

Inquest into the death of Christopher Higgins concluded today: Coroner reports requesting changes to protect the lives of mental health patients in the future Read More »

EDP: ‘Tell my family I am sorry’ – the first words of mental health patient Christopher Higgins after fall which would prove fatal

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Dominic Gilbert of the EDP reports: The heartbreaking first words spoken by Christopher Higgins after he suffered what were to be fatal injuries in a fall at a mental health unit, have been heard at an inquest into his death. When he went to his aid, Mr Higgins said: “Tell my family I am sorry.”

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EDP: Mental health patients in our region are being failed by the government, says MP

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Having our campaigning local media and one MP who genuinely cares about mental health makes such a difference. Annabelle Dickson, Political Editor of the EDP, reports: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health services would have almost £70m a year more if they were treated in the same way as physical health, the Norwich South MP has claimed.

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EDP: Union backs Mental Health Watch campaign – and highlights ongoing concerns in Norfolk and Suffolk

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David Powles of the EDP reports: Bosses of the trust used their recent AGM to proclaim of turning a corner, but Ms Corlett says while some things have improved – there’s a long way to go before staff feel that is the case. She explained: “A lot of staff still feel angry about how change

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EDP Front Page Exclusive: Number of deaths at Norfolk and Suffolk mental health service surges

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Nick Carding of the EDP reports exclusively: Campaigners say their “worst fears have been confirmed” after it emerged that the number of unexpected deaths of mental health patients in the region is continuing to rise. Figures published by the region’s mental health trust show more patients died unexpectedly in the first half of this financial

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BBC News: Mental health death after Norfolk and Suffolk trust failure

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Nic Rigby of the BBC reports: A mental health patient died after a “failure” to respond in a “timely way” by a stretched health trust team, a report says. The Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust report said there were “serious capacity issues” with its crisis resolution team. It says another death occurred after a patient

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Gallery: Slides from Public Meeting: What is happening at NSFT? Do we still need a campaign?

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You can view the presentation in the Gallery below or download the slides as a pdf to view offline, distribute or print.   The sources of the employment data are the various Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Annual Report and Accounts published between 2011 and 2015. The sources of the Serious Incident (SI)

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NSFT claims it has enough beds… so WHY DID A PATIENT SLEEP IN THE CORRIDOR LAST NIGHT?

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If Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has enough beds as it claims, why was a patient forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor in the corridor of Waveney Ward at Hellesdon Hospital last night? What would the CQC think about that? Shameful.

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The Guardian: Rise in Mental Health Act detentions shows ‘services struggling to cope’

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Aisha Gani and James Meikle of The Guardian report: Official figures say detentions under the Act have risen nearly 10% in a year, causing concern among charities that services are failing to act early. Mental health campaigners have expressed concern that detentions under the Mental Health Act have risen by almost 10% in England in

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Carer’s letter to the Guardian: ‘Will it be my relative next?’

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15th October 2015 Despite family pleas for appropriate treatment, a long term user of Norfolk’s mental health services cut her own throat today.  Visited by a Social worker yesterday, she was “placed on the waiting list for assessment under the Mental Health Act” because when last seen she was observed to be suffering harrowing hallucinations

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EDP: We’re at a turning point, says Norfolk and Suffolk mental health chief

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David Powles of the Eastern Daily Press reports: Michael Scott, Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust chief executive, pledged at yesterday’s AGM it had learned from its mistakes and promised that high quality, safe services would become ‘the norm not the exception’. However, his promises have been met with apprehension from mental health campaigners, who say

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BBC News: Spend on patients out of area up 400pc

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The BBC reports: Spending on sending Norfolk and Suffolk mental health patients outside the two counties has risen four-fold in a year, new figures show. The annual report for the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust says it spent £3.3m on placements outside the area in 2014-15 compared with £800,000 in 2013-14. It says this was

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EDP: Four-fold increase in bill to send mental health patients out of the region

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The Eastern Daily Press reports: A lack of beds and increased demand led to a four-fold increase in the cost of sending people with mental health problems outside of Norfolk and Suffolk in 2014/15. When a bed on a ward is not available for people who need it in the region they are sent elsewhere

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EADT: Why are mental health problems rising in Suffolk?

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In a major new piece of investigative journalism, David Powles of Archant reports: Huge increases in the number of children in Suffolk suffering from mental health problems were today laid bare – amid major concerns about the quality of services youngsters receive. Today, concerns were raised that help and support for children in Suffolk is

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