BBC News: Concern at rise in mental health patient deaths

Nic Rigby of the BBC reports: The number of Norfolk and Suffolk mental health patient deaths has gone up from four to six a month between 2013 and 2015, it has been revealed. The 50% increase in the average number of deaths, excluding deaths by natural causes or those drug-related, goes before a trust meeting […]

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Kept in the Dark: 24th September 2015: Join us at the hidden NSFT Board meeting in Ipswich

There is an NSFT Board meeting tomorrow starting at 9.30 a.m. at the Elisabeth Room, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX Not that you would know about it from the NSFT website. You can download the hidden papers as a pdf. Join us to challenge the NSFT Board about this evening’s profoundly shocking revelations about the on-going crisis in

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Fantasy Island: The CQC Video Files: ‘Responsive’

Dedicated front line staff continued to do everything they could to offer a responsive service despite the cuts and chaos of the ‘radical redesign’. Their warnings and concerns were largely ignored by the arrogant and complacent management and Board of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) with appalling results. This ‘corporate video’ was made

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EDP: Anger as Suffolk adult mental health unit closes

David Powles of the EDP exclusively reports: Campaigners fear even more adult mental health patients will have to be sent outside of the region, after it was confirmed a unit to treat them in had been closed down. Yesterday, health bosses confirmed the remaining two patients had been transferred to the nearby Northgate Hospital in

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Fantasy Island: The CQC Video Files: ‘Caring’

Dedicated front line staff continued to do everything they could to offer a caring service despite the cuts and chaos of the ‘radical redesign’. This ‘corporate video’ was made in preparation for the visit of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). This visit, which resulted in an ‘Inadequate’

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Fantasy Island: The CQC Video Files: ‘Effective’

This ‘corporate video’ was made in preparation for the visit of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). This visit, which resulted in an ‘Inadequate’ rating and the NHS regulator, Monitor, placing NSFT into Special Measures, took place months after the completion of the interviews for the Alexander Report

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Fantasy Island: The CQC Video Files: ‘Safe’

This ‘corporate video’ was made in preparation for the visit of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). This visit, which resulted in an ‘Inadequate’ rating and the NHS regulator, Monitor, placing NSFT into Special Measures, took place months after the completion of the interviews for the Alexander Report

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New Ways of Shirking: A Tale of Two Deputies

Before the NHS mental health trusts in Norfolk and Suffolk merged, each had a medical director: After the ‘cost saving’ merger, the new medical management looked like this: The new structure looks like this: The cost of medical management has risen by nearly 50 per cent. NSFT’s income has fallen, mental health services have been

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BBC News: NHS ‘had no mental health beds left’

Nikki Fox of the BBC reports on the meltdown in mental health services: An NHS trust was told there were no mental health beds available across England, its medical director has said. Dr Bohdan Solomka told the BBC on Sunday the lack of beds applied across the NHS and among private providers. This weekend, Norfolk

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New Ways of Shirking: NSFT Director of Research wanted, no PhD or substantial publications required = £150,000 per year

Last year, members of our campaign witnessed an embarrassing presentation to the Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Board of Directors meeting at Swaffham during which the NSFT Deputy Medical Director with responsibility for research asked for money to ‘pump-prime’ NSFT’s research programmes. An NSFT Governor and member of our campaign asked how NSFT could

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EDP: Norfolk and Suffolk’s troubled mental health trust is not improving quickly enough

Nicholas Carding of the EDP reports: The region’s underfire mental health trust is not improving as quickly as hoped, according to a health watchdog’s leader for mental health. A letter seen by the EDP and Evening News, says the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are expecting to see “more progress at a quicker pace” from Norfolk

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EDP: Heartbroken family say Norfolk teenager received poor mental health care

More high quality reporting from David Powles into the treatment, or lack of treatment, of Kieran Fulcher on the front page of the EDP. Why does the press have to do the job of our politicians and NHS bureaucracy, just as it had to at Mid Staffs? The upper echelons of the NHS behave as

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Kept in the Dark: Video: BBC News: Cuts, Crisis and Cover-up at NSFT

A brave whistleblower tells Nikki Fox of the BBC that the crisis has not gone away; that the demand for mental health services still far exceeds clinical capacity; that the management of Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) appears to have little understanding of the scale of the problems. The Norwich South MP, Clive

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EDP: Norwich MP calls on Prime Minister to intervene over secret mental health report

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis used his first outing at Prime Minister’s question time at lunchtime today to urge the release of the report into the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) which he said raised “serious questions about patient safety and care, due to cuts to services”. He told MPs that the “duty of

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Video: Clive Lewis MP raises Alexander Report into devastating cuts at NSFT with Prime Minister

“Norfolk and Suffolk NHS mental health trust which serves my constituency is refusing to publish the so called ‘Alexander Report’ into its operations. The report, which I’ve seen, raises serious questions about patient safety and care, due to cuts to services. “Does the Prime Minister agree with me that the duty of candour should apply

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EDP: Norfolk and Suffolk mental health trust’s use of controversial out of area beds rockets by 87%

Mental health patients in Norfolk and Suffolk are increasingly being sent to beds across the country – despite pledges to reduce the practice. Sending patients out of area has cost the trust £530,000 so far this year. Out-of-area placements saw an increase in bed days from 381 in April to 713 in May – a

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EDP: Mental health trust spent record amount on agency staff

A mental health trust which is aiming to make savings of £8.9million spent a record high of £2.4m on temporary staff last month, it has emerged. Following the investigation by Monitor, which was launched in November, Norfolk and Suffolk agreed to try and make savings of £8.9m in this financial year. There is no overall

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Audio: Campaigner Emma Corlett of Unison interviewed on BBC Radio Suffolk about cuts of £36 million proposed by NSFT in Special Measures

Listen to Emma Corlett of Unison interviewed by Luke Deal of BBC Radio Suffolk on the subject of the absurd plans for a further £36 million of cuts at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) on top of the £44 million of cuts which have seen, as a direct consequence, NSFT rated inadequate by

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