March for Mental Health: Save the few remaining beds in West Norfolk: Saturday 23rd April 2016, The Walks, King’s Lynn, 12 p.m.

Community campaigners, concerned citizens and service users will be taking to the streets of King’s Lynn on Saturday 23rd April to protest at the closure of the Fermoy Unit, the only local in-patient, NHS facility for mental health in the area.  Starting at twelve noon at the Bandstand in the Walks, the event will include […]

March for Mental Health: Save the few remaining beds in West Norfolk: Saturday 23rd April 2016, The Walks, King’s Lynn, 12 p.m. Read More »

EDP: Last mental health inpatient unit in West Norfolk closes to new admissions

Nicholas Carding of the EDP reports: Mental health patients in West Norfolk who need acute treatment face being sent to Norwich or further for a hospital bed after bosses closed the last remaining unit to new admissions. But a spokesman for the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk described the situation

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EDP: Last mental health inpatient unit in West Norfolk under threat prompting fears over bed provision

Nicholas Carding of the EDP reports: Bosses at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) said they could not rule out closing the Fermoy Unit in King’s Lynn, because of problems with its design and safety. The unit is the only inpatient facility for mental-health patients in west Norfolk. Last month research by this

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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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Health Service Journal: The worrying truth about mental health services: The King’s Fund on NSFT’s failure

Helen Gilburt, a fellow in health policy at The King’s Fund, writes: The example of Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust provides a stark reminder of the risks associated with undertaking whole-system transformation at scale and pace. To pre-empt increased financial risk and deliver efficiency savings, the trust engaged in delivering a vision of implementing recovery-orientated

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Community Care: Vulnerable man was failed by two NHS trusts days before he died, finds watchdog

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

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

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’

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: itv NEWS Anglia – Full story and interviews with David Walter, Terry Skyrme, Emma Corlett, Norman Lamb and Andrew Hopkins

Click the image below to watch the videos about Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), including interviews with NSFT patient David Walter, NSFT social worker Terry Skyrme and NSFT nurse Emma Corlett. You will need to scroll down the page to the two video clips. NSFT has repeatedly dismissed and ignored warnings through all

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Appeal: TV journalists need our help on Monday or Tuesday of next week

TV journalists would like to talk to both a carer/family and someone who uses or has tried to use services provided by Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). They are professional and we can support you in dealing with the media and ensuring your privacy and wishes are respected. They want to discuss any

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Crisis Team Newsflash: CRHT calls in the unions as NSFT tries to recruit agency staff on £25 per hour

We have written extensively about Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s (NSFT) botched redundancy programme which has wasted many millions of pounds and introduced unnecessary and unacceptable risks into the delivery of vital services. Now, exactly what we warned would happen is happening. This is the job advertisement for a band six Community Psychiatric Nurse

Crisis Team Newsflash: CRHT calls in the unions as NSFT tries to recruit agency staff on £25 per hour Read More »

35th Day of Lent: Going without an assessment for three months and then given an appointment more three hours away by public transport

‘S’ writes: “One of my neighbours lives in South Norfolk, in the Diss area. He has been under under-65 services for many years as he has suffered from the enduring mental health issue of depression. This ebbs and flows; this year he is very low in mood, he was discharged from the service because they felt

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Norwich Free Advertiser: NSFT vacancies at Norvic Clinic, Thorpe St Andrew, Hammerton Court, Norwich and the Fermoy Unit, King’s Lynn

You couldn’t make this up. While NSFT plans to spend £7.3 million on redundancies, it is running expensive press advertisements desperately trying to recruit temporary staff via NHS Professionals. Thanks to the campaign supporter who spotted this press advertisement and sent it to us. Let us know if you see any more – is NSFT

Norwich Free Advertiser: NSFT vacancies at Norvic Clinic, Thorpe St Andrew, Hammerton Court, Norwich and the Fermoy Unit, King’s Lynn Read More »

On the eighth day of Christmas, the cuts took away… Early Intervention (EI) in psychosis services

Here ‘Mary’ and ‘Jo’ tell their story of the ‘radical redesign’: “We have worked in Early Intervention (EI) in psychosis for nearly twenty years between us. EI is our passion, it has a strong evidence base and it is the service that all have a right to, regardless of where they live. Early Intervention in

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On the sixth day of Christmas, NSFT took away… dignity in old age

Here’s the story ‘Harold’ wanted us to tell: “Our Trust has already closed dementia and complexity in later life beds.  The idea appears sound: dementia intensive support teams will support people in their homes. Now that is all well and good for those who can be supported at home but sometimes it just isn’t possible

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EDP: GPs refuse to increase funding despite mental health crisis

The EDP claims that the CCGs have decided to refuse any ‘significant’ increase in funding for mental health services despite the crisis and increasing demand. Read the usual excuses by clicking the image below. Or discover the human cost of inadequate mental health services in our 12 Cuts of Christmas campaign. Why not ask your GP

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EADT: Suffolk: Bosses claim mental health services are heading towards a “national crisis”

At first, according to Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), it was a radical improvement to services and certainly not cuts to the front-line. Then, said NSFT, it wasn’t a crisis. Then, as recently as last week, Gary Page said it was a ‘so-called crisis’. Now, NSFT acknowledges there is a crisis but it

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