Campaigners call for Norfolk and Suffolk mental health trust to be broken up
It comes after a damning report from the healthcare regulator in April
Last updated 24th May 2022
Local campaigners are calling for the NHS trust that runs mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk to be broken up, after a damning report from the regulator.
The Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk has also hit out at what they call a 'secret summit' today to decide the future of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).
A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report released at the end of April rated NSFT 'inadequate' overall.
The CQC’s report said that 115 'unexpected or potentially avoidable deaths' were reported between September 1 2019 and September 30 2021 and the trust had ineffective leadership.
Campaigners claim over 2,000 patients have died while being treated by NSFT, a figure disputed by heath bosses.
Another CQC inspection is expected in the coming months.
The trust has struggled to deliver quality care to patients for almost a decade. It was placed into special measures in 2015.
Mark Harrison, a leading figure in the 'Save Mental Health Services' campaign told us:
"Our members are telling us the trust has actually deteriorated since the inspection last December... it's less safe now than it was then."
"We are very very concerned and the fact patients and services users and carers are excluded from this summit shows just how inadequate the current management is."
"It's had support from NHS England and Improvement and nothing has worked.
"We have to say enough is enough, you can't just keep repeating the same mistakes... because we're talking about people's lives here."
"We will continue to expose the deaths, the unsafe wards, the unsafe community services and the bullying culture."
"We will continue to speak out for staff, for patients, for service users and for carers."
We have asked NSFT for a response to this story. After the release of the CQC report last month, NSFT CEO Stuart Richardson 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.”