Mental health bosses in Norfolk and Suffolk to update councillors on improvements
It's after the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust was criticised for losing track of patient deaths
Last updated 18th Jan 2024
Bosses at a mental health service in Norfolk and Suffolk will today update councillors on improvements they've made since September.
It's after the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust was criticised for losing track of patient deaths by Norfolk County Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee last year.
"There still isn't a clear action plan"
Emma Corlett represents Town Close in Norwich at Norfolk County Council and was a mental health nurse for 17 years:
"What we have seen is that they go to places where they are held to account and they say words that sound fine. But it's actions that are going to change things and save lives. I personally have no confidence that their actions will match up with what they say.
"There still isn't a clear action plan on how they are going to meaningfully work and safely with people who are bereaved, as that's really important.
"I don't think they have properly understood the impact of all this. They are expecting these families to work with them, an organisation that they feel might have let their loved one down.
"Make sure that we don't bring further harm to the families"
"We can't bring back the people who have died. What we can do is make sure that we don't bring further harm to the families that are left behind and make sure that the whole system acts in good faith to make it safer for people, in the future.
"There's nothing I've seen from the papers they've submitted to the committee to reassure me that they've done that.
"My personal view is that there needs to be a statutory public inquiry. The system has shown that it is not capable of doing this work itself safely or quickly enough. That's why such an inquiry is needed."
What did Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee ask of the NSFT in their last meeting?
The minutes of the meeting on September 14th 2023 produced the following 'Summary of Actions':
- NSFT to provide information on the number of consultant vacancies and the number of consultant locums there are working for NSFT in proportion to locum to the anticipated full consultant complement.
- NSFT’s Chief Medical Officer to provide a written report on whether the data as recorded can identify any adverse correlation with any treatment or medication pathway.
- NHOSC to consider writing to Grant Thornton to both express its concerns and seek information about the different versions of their report.
The full minutes can be found here.
Today's meeting can be watched on here, from 10am
What has the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust said?
They've released a statement on their website saying: "There has been a significant amount of work undertaken since the action plan was published and progress is being made.
"We are very grateful to the input from all parties."
You can see their full statement here.