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 »
2. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE MAIN BENEFITS OF THE MUTUAL MODEL IN ADDRESSING THE STRATEGIC CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED AT (1) ABOVE AND ON IMPROVING SERVICES TO PATIENTS? 1. Benefit: Employee engagement and morale. NAViGO (a mental health services mutual) reduced staff absence from 6.8% to <3% in the two years after mutualising, and has
Kept in the Dark: NSFT’s Mutualisation Application Part II 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 »
Care minister Norman Lamb denied yesterday that mutuals were a step to privatisation, after campaigners claimed the NSFT could leave the NHS. But a spokesman for the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk, which put in the Freedom of Information request, said: “Staff are up in arms about this. It is
EDP: A half-way house to privatisation? Read More »
Tom Bristow of the EDP reports: But in a move which has done nothing for staff morale the trust suggested employing workers in low wage countries to talk to mental health patients over Skype, in its application to secure government funding to research the project. The NSFT’s full application for government money to explore becoming
EDP: Move to improve staff morale causes an upset Read More »
Emma Corlett, spokeswoman for Unison at the trust, said: “Our view of the report is that it shows whoever did the application did not have a very clear understanding of the work frontline staff do or the way face-to-face therapy works. “We want a skilled and well-paid workforce here and we should not be looking
BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health Skype ‘outsourcing’ causes concern Read More »
1. WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAIN STRATEGIC CHALLENGES FACING YOUR ORGANISATION(S) AND HOW HAVE YOU ADDRESSED THESE TO DATE? 1. Challenge: Rising referrals, and falling revenues on historic block contracts, causing financial pressures. NSFT has demonstrated strategic leadership though implementing a merger of two previous trusts in 2012, and a full redesign and
Kept in the Dark: NSFT’s Mutualisation Application Part I Read More »
Here are some of the ideas that the Board of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has told the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health it has planned to improve staff morale and engagement in its mutualisation proposals: “[NSFT] is now developing radical new plans to again reduce costs. These include a root-and-branch
Kept in the dark: Some of NSFT’s ideas to improve staff engagement 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
“In some areas, bed cuts were drastic. One trust alone, Norfolk and Suffolk, axed 74 mental health beds from its stock of 322 in just two years – a cut of almost a quarter.” Local MP Norman Lamb must be so proud of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) and his legacy as the
An open letter to NSFT, its Board of Governors and the CCGs Why the Ashcroft contract should be ongoing The Bed Crisis Over the last two years, there has been a serious shortage of acute inpatient provision. The number of patients placed out of area, in expensive private hospitals, has fluctuated constantly from a low
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,
Today, the EDP issues a clarion call to our wonderful community in East Anglia. Let’s join together in 2015 to help those who cannot help themselves. We believe that some of the most vulnerable people in Norfolk and Suffolk are not getting the support they need or deserve and we cannot stand by and watch
“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
You can download a pdf of the poster to distribute, print and display by clicking on the image below. Please come along and stop the cuts to this unique and vital component of Norfolk’s mental health infrastructure for women. There is a location map at the bottom of this page.
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 »
