Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust rated 'inadequate' by CQC
The Trust fell from 'needs improvement' due how they scored for being safe, effective and well-led
Last updated 28th Apr 2022
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NFST) has been rated 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission after they were inspected back in November and December.
The report said the decision to downgrade the NFST from 'needs improvement' was made after it was found that the standards of their mental health and disability treatments had fallen and was no longer safe, on some occasions.
The CQC’s report said that 115 “unexpected or potentially avoidable deaths” were reported between September 1 2019 and September 30 2021.
While the Trust was also founded to be 'inadequate' in terms of leadership and efficiency.
On top of this, the CQC served the trust a warning notice requiring it to make improvements to patient safety and address how and when they used restraints, within a legally binding timetable.
But in spite of this, some improvements were found with the Trust being rated 'good' for being caring and 'requires improvement' for being responsive to people’s needs.
CQC will inspect the trust again within the coming months to see whether improvements have been made. If things haven't improved, they will take further action to ensure patient safety is remains.
"A problem many mental health trusts are encountering"
Craig Howarth head of inspection for mental health and community services at CQC said: “A significant factor behind the trust’s shortcomings was its lack of enough staff to meet patient need, a problem many mental health trusts are encountering.
"The trust needs to ensure its leaders have effective processes to consistently monitor teams, ensure compliance with training targets, understand issues affecting patient care and do more to support staff on the frontline".
"The Trust can't do everything at once"
Alex Stewart is the Chief Executive of Healthwatch Norfolk, who represents local patients.
He told us these short-comings can't be corrected over-night, but that he's confident the Trust's management will turn this around in the longer-term: "What needs to be recognised with this review is that the Trust can't do everything at once.
"We will have to deal with the most serious issues first and then work our way down a long list. The conditions that have been placed upon the Trust are obviously of paramount importance.
"Stuart Richardson, who's the new Chief Executive there, recognised quite openly that the Trust needed to do a lot in order to reassure patients that things were moving in the right direction. What I feel that demonstrates is this transparency and openness to challenge, question and recognise that what has happened in the past just hasn't been good enough."
""We have already taken action that will help us improve"
Stuart Richardson is the Chief Executive Officer at NSFT said: “We fully accept the areas that the CQC say need to improve.
“The people of Norfolk and Suffolk deserve good quality mental health services and we are committed to achieving this. People have worked tirelessly to keep services open during the pandemic and I want to thank all my colleagues for their hard work.
“We recognise that we have not made the expected progress in some key areas, and I am deeply sorry for this and the impact this will have had on people who need support with their mental health.
"We have already taken action that will help us improve, including increasing support and training for our staff, redoubling our efforts to recruit more nurses and doctors, and bringing services closer to people’s homes through our community transformation projects.”
Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk
The decision to downgrade the overall rating of the Trust has been welcomed by local campaigners.
The Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk said patients, service users, NSFT staff, family members and carers welcome the decision.
It added that it is too late for many though who have lost their lives and the bereaved families who have lost loved ones.