Kept in the dark: NSFT’s Board fails to share its intention to leave the NHS with its own Board of Governors, service users, carers and staff

3 Comments / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, Financial crisis, In NSFT's words, Kept in the dark, Mutualisation / By

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 […]

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Quiz Answer: NSFT’s Trust Secretary enjoys an annual salary of £81,618, excess travel payments of £3,323.70, on call payments of £2,448.60 and a final salary pension

7 Comments / Financial crisis, PR Crisis, Questions for the Board, Recruitment Crisis / By

The most popular quiz answer for the annual pay of the NSFT Trust Secretary was between £30,000 and £39,999 which seems quite reasonable. 18% of you guessed the right amount, which was between £80,000 and £89,999 per year. 68% of you thought the Trust Secretary, Robert Nesbitt, would earn less than he actually does. Only

Quiz Answer: NSFT’s Trust Secretary enjoys an annual salary of £81,618, excess travel payments of £3,323.70, on call payments of £2,448.60 and a final salary pension Read More »

EDP: Fighting for the Vulnerable 2015: Join our pledge to help those who need us the most

41 Comments / Bed Crisis, Campaigning, Community Crisis, Financial crisis, NSFT Cuts, PR Crisis, Press, Questions for the Board, Sister campaigns / By

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

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Financial Crisis: An apology to NSFT from the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk & Suffolk

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“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

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EDP: Latest: Health regulator Monitor “concerned” about N&N and mental health trust

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Tom Briscow of the Eastern Daily Press reports: Mrs Mills [of Monitor] said: “We are taking a closer look at NSFT to understand the way the Board works and why the trust is making such a big loss. “The aim of the investigation is to get to the bottom of these issues and to understand

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BBC News: Monitor to launch inquiry into Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

10 Comments / Bed Crisis, CQC Inspection, Dangerous, Financial crisis, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board / By

NHS regulator Monitor is to launch an inquiry into the mental health trust for Norfolk and Suffolk after concerns were raised over its finances. Monitor said it would look into whether Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) had breached the terms of its licence over its £1.72m deficit. The inquiry follows a Care Quality

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10-bed Assessment Unit fiasco: Can it get worse?

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Several supporters have been in touch. They tell us that while Nic Rigby’s report of the rejection of the opening of the 10-bed Assessment Unit is accurate, it is quite conservative in the conclusions it draws. We have also been sent by several sources the relevant sections of the Investment Committee (IC) report submitted by

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BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk health: Warning over ward plan

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A mental health trust does not have funds to reopen a ward intended to ease a beds crisis, a report has warned. The Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) announced in September plans to reopen 10 beds at Hellesdon Hospital. A report to the trust in October said it should not reopen the ward because

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Healthwatch Norfolk: Is it any use?

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We have resisted criticising Healthwatch Norfolk, in large part out of respect for its Chairman, who was an outstanding Norfolk Coroner who never hesitated to hold Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) to public account. But, enough is enough. Today, Healthwatch Norfolk had a stall at the Forum in Norwich, with expensively-branded pencils, rubbers,

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BBC News: Assessment suite closures concern for mental health in Norfolk and Suffolk

31 Comments / Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, HealthEast Consultation, NSFT Cuts, s136 Crisis / By

Nic Rigby of the BBC reports: Concerns over plans to centralise Norfolk mental health assessment suites in Norwich have been raised by a police commissioner and a union. Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the suites, has started consulting staff on the proposal, the BBC understands. People are brought to the suites, often

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BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health unit waits of 22 hours ‘not acceptable’

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Nic Rigby of the BBC reports: Patients having to wait up to 22 hours in mental health assessment suites in Norfolk and Suffolk is “unacceptable”, leading experts have said. A BBC Freedom of Information request found that between January and July, seven patients had to wait more than 15 hours and three more than 20.

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Video: Channel 4 News – Mental health: too many patients, not enough beds

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Try the video contained in this link if the embedded video below doesn’t play on your phone or tablet. If that doesn’t work you’ll need to try on a computer or different device. Sorry, we don’t make the Channel 4 video player.

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Newsflash: Campaign on Channel 4 News tonight at seven – Mental health: too many patients, not enough beds

4 Comments / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, Financial crisis, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board, s136 Crisis / By

Beds full There have been times in the past couple of years when they have sent 30 or 40 people sometimes hundreds of miles away because their beds have been full. A new management team has recently been brought in and they have managed to reduce this to seven or eight. But when I asked

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In NSFT’s words: Bed pressure

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“Use of ‘red leave’ bed’s to manage patients locally, meaning using beds deemed to be held for patients considered to be potentially at risk by inpatient teams. Increased demands on staffing to manage high turnover of service users as well as protracted time periods required to manage applications for OOA placements as well as transport issues. OOA placement usage, this provides financial pressures and risk as well as quality risk. Extended

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New NSFT CEO Michael Scott visiting Crisis Team: But Crisis Team told not to talk to him

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How is Michael Scott, the new Chief Executive at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, going to sort out the crisis team crisis if staff receive emails like this before they meet him? Dear All, Just to let you know…… I found out yesterday that the new Chief Exec will be attending our MDT meeting

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Why the CQC selected NSFT for early inspection in its own words: Decision to schedule Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust for Inspection

3 Comments / Bed Crisis, CAMHS Crisis, Clozapine Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board, Recruitment Crisis / By

We wrote to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) because Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has been claiming that the forthcoming CQC inspection is routine/random and that the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk & Suffolk was being inaccurate and misleading to write that NSFT had been selected as a priority for early

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Exclusive: Letter to HealthEast from all Waveney AMHPs exposes crisis in Suffolk and calls for NSFT Executive Board to resign

4 Comments / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, HealthEast Consultation, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board, Recruitment Crisis / By

“NSFT are not to fit to lead or manage mental health services in Great Yarmouth and Waveney. The testimony and reflection above demonstrates this. As such, nothing they propose can be trusted by the CCG to be able to address the endemic problems they themselves have caused. The Waveney AMHP group calls on the CCG

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Newsflash: NSFT a priority for inspection by CQC under new approach

1 Comment / Bed Crisis, Community Crisis, Crisis Team Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Questions for the Board, Recruitment Crisis / By

The CQC website reports: The first batch of NHS mental health providers will be inspected and rated in October using our new approach. The inspections will assess the four providers to see if the service overall is: safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led. They will be carried out by a mixture of

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Community Care: ‘It feels like some lives are worth more than others’: working on the mental health frontline

Leave a Comment / Bed Crisis, Campaigning, Clozapine Crisis, Community Crisis, Dangerous, NSFT Cuts, Press, Questions for the Board, Recruitment Crisis / By

Emma Corlett writes in Community Care (trigger alert). “As I say, some lives it seems are worth more than others. Where has the humanity gone? It’s a damning indictment of our society and the state of our services that the local shopping centre has now erected safety hoardings to prevent similar incidents. I have no words.”

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