It has long been clear that Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) tries to manipulate its inappropriate out of area placement (OAP) bed statistics when the Care Quality Commission (CQC) comes to inspect. As the graph below shows, out of area bed usage was again artificially reduced in the run-up to the latest full […]
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
This article from Nuwan Dissanayaka needs to be read by everybody with an interest in mental health. Dr. Dissanayaka is really worth following on Twitter. We’re delighted Nuwan’s views are getting wider attention in the national press. Dr. Dissanayaka is the consultant psychiatrist in the Assertive Outreach team in Leeds. Of course, assertive outreach at
A spokesperson from the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk said: “People in crisis need real services, not being patronised with cups of tea and endless signposting to long waiting lists or non-existent services. There are already drop-in centres, cafés and NHS services but their funding is deeply inadequate and has
Press Release: Campaign statement on the delays to the cuts café Read More »
Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: A crisis hub pegged to help stem the number of mental health patients sent miles away due to a lack of beds has been delayed by a year in part due to debates over the building it will be in. A wellbeing hub – also known as
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Improvement (NHSI) appear to have decided to ignore the third Inadequate report from care regulator, Care Quality Commission (CQC) and are trying to kick the can down the road yet again, leaving the Chief Executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Matthew Weaver of The Guardian reports: The health secretary, Matt Hancock, is facing mounting calls to intervene in England’s worst performing mental health trust after it was rated inadequate for a third time. There have been more than 250 extra deaths in Norfolk and Suffolk over the past five years as a result of the
The Guardian: Ministers urged to act over Norfolk and Suffolk mental health trust Read More »
We expect Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) to receive yet another atrocious inspection report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on Wednesday 28th November. We have planned a week of action across Norfolk and Suffolk. Wednesday 28th November: Protest against the Board of NSFT outside the main (top entrance) to Hellesdon Hospital, Drayton
Three Days of Action: Hat-trick of failure: Three strikes and you’re out! Read More »
Alice Hutton of The Observer reports: The family of a former footballer who died in a struggling dementia hospital will have to represent themselves at his inquest this week after being denied legal aid. We have serious and longstanding concerns about the operation of the Coroner and inquests in Norfolk. How can deaths be properly
Observer: Family’s lonely fight over dementia hospital death Read More »
Norfolk and Waveney’s so-called STP is holding consultations across Norfolk with a view to creating a ten year strategy for mental health. The STP bureaucrats are talking about a Stalinist ten-year plan when mental health services are in crisis NOW. Of course, the bureaucrats will be long gone before the ten years are up, with
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
As part of its current inspection of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), inspectors from the regulators of care, Care Quality Commission (CQC), would like to meet to hear current views of the care delivered by the mental health trust for Norfolk and Suffolk. The last time CQC inspected NSFT, one year ago, it
Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The new boss of the region’s mental health trust has expressed his disappointment after it was revealed service users and carers gave him low scores during the interview process. The scores weren’t just low. The large and heterogeneous service user and carer appointment panel came to the
Robby West and Matt Precey of the BBC report: The parents of a mentally ill ex-soldier warned a health trust he was collecting knives before he murdered an 83-year-old dog walker. Alexander Palmer, 24, stabbed Peter Wrighton 45 times in woodland near East Harling, Norfolk, in August. A letter from a Norfolk and Suffolk NHS
BBC News: Peter Wrighton murder: Alexander Palmer doctors ‘warned’ of knife hoard Read More »
Geraldine Scott of the Eastern Daily Press reports: The region’s mental health trust has pledged to eradicate the use of out of area beds by 2021. Oh dear. That’s three years away, a national target and seven years after commissioners’ original promise to end the use of out of area beds before the end of
EDP: Mental health trust’s pledge to eradicate out of area placements by 2021 Read More »
Dominic Gilbert of the Eastern Daily Press reports: Failures of mental health services “significantly contributed” to the suicide of a mother struggling with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, a jury has found. Katherine Rought-Rought died at her home in North Park Avenue in Norwich on June 1, 2016 from asphyxiation due to strangulation. Only hours
Gemma Mitchell of the Eastern Daily Press reports: A mental health boss has hit out and branded it ‘utterly indefensible’ that a bid for more than £5m which would be used to address safety concerns was snubbed by the government. We understand that the Improvement Director, imposed upon Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)
Gemma Mitchell of the East Anglian Daily Times reports: A Suffolk father is facing a six-hour round trip to visit his vulnerable son following the closure of a vital mental health unit in Ipswich. A Stowmarket man whose 20-year-old son is a patient on Lark Ward, based in the grounds of Ipswich Hospital, has spoken
Healthwatch Suffolk comments on the announcement of the closure of the Suffolk PICU by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT): Healthwatch Suffolk note with serious concern the news that the Lark Ward, a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) run by Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) at Woodlands, will close from Friday 6th April
