When Linda Jones received a call from her distraught husband, one cold day in December 2008, to say that their beloved 17-year-old son, Matthew, had committed suicide in his bedroom, she was inconsolable, as any mother would be. But she was not surprised. The despair the Joneses feel at the state of Britain’s mental-health services […]
Andy McNicoll reports: A man who had expressed suicidal thoughts was failed by two NHS trusts in the days before he was found dead in a river, an investigation by the health service ombudsman has found. Stephen Foster, 48, was found dead on 23 June 2011. Today, the ombudsman published the findings of an investigation
We were all delighted to meet Andy McNicoll, deservedly Mind Mental Health Journalist of the Year, at our campaign meeting yesterday. Ethical investigative journalism is a critical component in our campaign and Andy McNicoll’s work with the BBC’s Michael Buchanan has been of the highest quality. In November 2013 a campaign led by frontline staff
A spokesman for the Campaign to Save Mental Health in Norfolk and Suffolk said: “The regulator confirms what our campaign has consistently said for more than a year.” Click on the image below to read Nic Rigby’s full article on the BBC News website.
BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health services branded ‘inadequate’ Read More »
The region’s under-fire mental health service should be put into special measures, the chief inspector of hospitals said today, after a highly-critical report branded the trust “inadequate”. Regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) as “inadequate” overall in a damning report today, following an inspection in October last year.
We rated Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust as inadequate overall because: We found that there was not a safe, effective or responsive service at this trust and the board needs to take urgent action to address areas of inadequacy. While the board and senior management had a vision with strategic objectives in place staff did not feel fully engaged
CQC: Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is Inadequate Read More »
The lack of acute beds available to mental health patients has left the system at breaking point, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has said. Illustrating the scale of the problem, the college said it understood that on one occasion last year there were no beds available for adults in England. It called for action to
Guardian: NHS mental health care ‘pushed to breaking point by lack of beds’ Read More »
NHS England, a leaked email reveals, have told regional health bosses the shortage of beds is so bad that older teenagers are set to be admitted to adult wards The NHS beds crisis plumbed new depths as hospitals were advised to put teenage mental health patients onto adult wards. NHS England, a leaked email reveals,
Mirror: NHS crisis: Teen mental health patients put on ADULT wards in bed shortage Read More »
In the email seen by the Observer, which was sent on Friday on the instruction of national officials working for NHS England, the medical director for East Anglia, says: “I have just been asked to inform you all by the national specialist commissioning team of the current national lack of child and adolescent mental health
Observer: Beds crisis hits NHS care for mentally ill children Read More »
Our initial consideration is converting the entire trust into a typical CIC. This would involve governance changes such as; refining our existing membership model (possibly reducing numbers to include only genuinely active members), a members board (replacing Governors) which will feed input into the main board, elected representatives of both members and of staff on the
Norman Lamb, the minister of state for care and support, was met by a dozen members of the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk during his visit to Saxmundham on Thursday. The group was started by frontline staff and service users in response to the cuts at the Norfolk and Suffolk
The Admiral Nurse pilot scheme has been one of the few bright spots in Norman Lamb’s Bleak Midwinter of mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk. Here’s is a comment made on our website back in July 2014: Yes folks he’s at it again. Whilst apparently not having remembered any of the press releases by
Watch the video below. If you are an Apple user and have trouble viewing the embedded video you can view it directly on Youtube. Sorry, this issue is a sometime side effect of the on-going battle between Google and Apple. Thank you to Andrew Day of Equal Lives for capturing the event so well.
Video: Dr Irene Lampert talking about the CAMHS Crisis at our Anniversary Open Meeting Read More »
Watch the video below. If you are an Apple user and have trouble viewing the embedded video you can view it directly on Youtube. Sorry, this issue is a sometime side effect of the on-going battle between Google and Apple. Thank you to Andrew Day of Equal Lives for capturing the event so well.
Video: Mark Harrison of Equal Lives speaking at our Anniversary Open Meeting Read More »
There is a rare opportunity to question Norman Lamb this Thursday, 15 January, 1930 at the Market Hall, Saxmundham, IP17 1AF. We will be protesting beforehand from 1900 and then attending the meeting. It is vital that we challenge Norman Lamb over his government’s cuts to mental health, the disastrous reorganisation of the NHS which means
We will be lobbying the Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Board of Governors meeting tomorrow. Meet at 1230 on the City Hall steps. Some of us will also be attending the meeting which runs from 1300-1700 in the Council Chamber. Please join us. Despite mountains of paperwork, detailed terms of reference and long meetings,
Watch the video below. If you are an Apple user and have trouble viewing the embedded video you can view it directly on Youtube. Sorry, this issue is a sometime side effect of the on-going battle between Google and Apple. Thank you to Andrew Day of Equal Lives for capturing the event so well.
Video: Professor Peter Beresford speaking at our Anniversary Open Meeting Read More »
“Last year, the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk & Suffolk accused Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) of having spent £7.3 million on redundancies in 2013/4 in the midst of a recruitment crisis which placed mental health services at severe risk. At the time, NSFT said our claims were ‘inaccurate’. It
David Martin’s brother, Steve, writes: “There is significant doubt that bi-lateral pneumonia was a naturally occurring natural cause for David’s death. Were multi agency failings and institutional neglect contributory factors to the sudden death of David? Deadly cocktail of prescription drugs, filthy environment and an ineffective care plan. Do those agencies need to alter their
Petition: Asking Ipswich Coroner to hold an Inquest into how David Martin died Read More »
David’s story was told in a powerful piece of journalism by Nikki Fox on BBC Look East this evening. David died prematurely of pneumonia in squalor, without hot water or heating, aged only 52 years old in Ipswich, Suffolk. He deserved better. Please sign the petition demanding an inquest. David’s brother, Steve, writes: “The thing
Gallery: What care in the community can really look like Read More »
