EDP: Opinion: Why we wanted to get hold of emails from NHS’ communications bosses

Tom Bristow of the Eastern Daily Press explains: I have been writing about problems at our mental health service for this newspaper since 2012. In that time, I have sat through inquests of those let down by the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) and interviewed many grieving and angry families. I’ve also followed the […]

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EDP: ‘Fobbed off’: Family of grandmother attacked in care home hits out at mental health trust

Tom Bristow of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The son of a dementia patient who died after she was attacked in a care home says he feels “fobbed off” by a promised investigation into her death. The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) told the family of Doreen Livermore in January that it was

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EDP: ‘Got away with it’ – NHS manager gloated about coverage of dead great-grandmother

Tom Bristow of the Eastern Daily Press reports: An NHS manager bragged that the service had “got away” with its failings being highlighted after the death of two dementia sufferers – because former Monty Python star Terry Jones had died. The Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) was criticised in an investigation into the death

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EDP: Children and young people with mental ill health ‘slipped through the net’ as staff were forced to make own waiting lists

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: Staff working in children and young people’s mental health were forced to make their own waiting lists as official data was so inaccurate and cases “slipped through the net”. Those were the findings of a report into services provided by the region’s mental health trust when inspectors

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BBC News: Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust ‘did not update GP’

BBC News reports: A mental health trust treating a 15-year-old girl with anorexia failed to keep in touch with her GP or keep full records, a report states. Again. Ellie Long, 15, was found hanged in her room in Wymondham, Norfolk, in 2017. While the managers of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) play

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EDP: Woman saw 25 mental health professionals in 14 months before her death, coroner’s report reveals

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: A coroner has issued a warning over the death of a young woman who saw more than 25 members of the region’s mental health crisis team in the 14 months before she took her own life. We’ve been talking about the lack of any focus from Norfolk

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EDP Front Page: Is ‘remote, awful and inhumane’ mental health support in north Norfolk behind a spate of young men’s deaths?

In investigative reporting that is worthy of a national journalism award, Jessica Frank-Keyes of the Eastern Daily Press writes: Grieving parents and a retired GP say “remote, awful and inhumane” mental health support is leaving young men in north Norfolk at a heightened risk of taking their own lives. In recent months two young men

EDP Front Page: Is ‘remote, awful and inhumane’ mental health support in north Norfolk behind a spate of young men’s deaths? Read More »

EDP: OPINION: Coroners are too quick to shy away from saying a death was a suicide – it is time for a change

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press writes: Across Europe, one person takes their own life every two hours. And in Norfolk we have significantly higher rates of suicide than other parts of the UK. The number of suicides in Norfolk is appalling: The age-adjusted three-year-rolling suicide rate, as published by the Office for National

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EDP: Mother of Norwich man who died of heroin overdose blames institutional failings of mental health trust

Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The family of a man who died of a heroin overdose at his Norwich flat blamed “institutional failings of the mental health trust” for the circumstances surrounding his death. Mr Jacobs’ friends told Norfolk’s Coroner’s Court this morning it was here Mr Jacobs was victim to the

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Deaths Crisis: EDP: Norwich man suffering psychotic episode died after being restrained, inquest hears

Adam Howlett of the Eastern Daily Press reports: A man who suffered fatal injuries while under the care of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust had run out of medication to treat his schizophrenia, an inquest has heard. Neil Jewell, 42, of Philadelphia Lane, Norwich, died at Ipswich Hospital on January 17, 2014, after

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EDP: Deaths at mental health service show lack of learning, says doctor

Tom Bristow of the Archant Investigations Unit reports: The region’s troubled mental health service has been accused of failing to learn from its mistakes after it emerged that nowhere in the country had more concerns raised about mental health deaths than Norfolk and Suffolk. Coroners have written to the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT)

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Kept in the Dark: Should we expect the ‘independent inquiry’ into unexpected deaths at NSFT to be a whitewash?

The ‘independent inquiry’ into unexpected deaths at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is being published on Thursday, 26th May 2016 at the NSFT board meeting at Hellesdon Hospital, Norwich. The board meeting starts at 0930. Why not join us? So, should we expect a whitewash? Well, sadly, given our previous experience of being

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

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

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

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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