Cambridgeshire suicide review to be led independently

The Trust originally said it would be led by an internal member of staff

The review will cover deaths from 2017
Author: Victoria HornagoldPublished 19th Sep 2023
Last updated 19th Sep 2023

A review into 63 people who died by suicide under the care of the NHS in Cambridgeshire in the last 5 years will be reviewed by an external body the Trust have said.

The review was originally due to be conducted by an internal senior member of staff with no prior knowledge of the deaths.

This will cover the period from 2017, when the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, signed up to the Zero Suicide Alliance – to the present day

It's after concerns were raised that records were being changed after the deaths of patients.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust said: “Having listened to the feedback from those with lived experience of losing a loved one to suicide, and our commitment to learning from our most serious incidents, our Oversight Group is now working to appoint an external body to conduct the thematic review.

"Our top priority is getting this piece of work right and this decision ensures further objectivity and independence."

The Suicide Thematic Review is aligned to the new Patient Safety Incident Reporting Framework (PSIRF) and is not about individual cases.

The review will examine patient deaths, how the NHS provide families with the information they need, how they recognise crucial themes, and how to embed the learnings into future care and inform the Trust's Improvement Plan.

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