Report damns mental health support in Norfolk and Suffolk

This comes after coroners in Norfolk and Suffolk issued three prevention of future death notices this year alone, citing a lack of mental health beds as the cause of unnecessary deaths.

Previously branded the worst mental health trust in the country, the longstanding struggles of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) are well-publicised. 

Now, a fresh report from the Campaign to save mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk has found that it continues to fall short.

Members of the Campaign to save mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk (Image: Brittany Woodman/ Archant)

The pressure group has conducted an in-depth study into the experiences of people in the region with poor mental health, their carers and loved ones.

It found several troubling themes where services were unable to meet the demand of people in desperate need of support.

These themes included:

• A shortage of mental health beds in the region 
• Poor communication between the trust, patients and family members - with carers feeling "excluded"
• Overreliance on voluntary organisations to "plug gaps" in care
• Unsafe discharge from services with a lack of appropriate aftercare
• Patients with "urgent" referrals waiting several weeks for care

Mark Harrison, chairman of the campaign (Image: Newsquest)

Mark Harrison, the campaign's chairman, said the report's findings highlighted a desperate need for the new government to better fund mental health services and make the sector a priority for its ministers. 

He said: "The responsibility for failing mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk has now been passed to the new Labour ministers for health and mental health.

"We are calling on health secretary Wes Streeting to meet his statutory duties and provide good-quality mental health support.

"Coroners in Norfolk and Suffolk have issued three prevention of future death notices this year to ministers citing lack of beds as the cause of unnecessary deaths.

"They have also issued PFDs to NSFT for unsafe services."

He added that the campaign was urging the government to cancel £17m of cuts the previous administration had imposed on NSFT.

The campaign's report added: "It is clear there are still high levels of unmet need."

'Five-year strategy'

Caroline Donovan, chief executive of NSFT (Image: NSFT)

NSFT is currently led by Caroline Donovan, who joined as chief executive a year ago and became its sixth CEO in as many years.

She said the trust had established a new five-year plan to improve its services under the mantra of: "safer, kinder, better."

She said: "I look forward to reviewing this report from the campaign and the opportunity to work with them as we continue to transform our services.

"We meet with the campaign regularly to share details of the progress we are making and to listen to and respond to their concerns.

"Since joining the trust at the end of last year, I have developed a new five-year strategy with four strategic priorities - improving health, improving care, improving culture and improving value at this trust."

She said that the organisation had been focussing on learning from the deaths of patients and was restructuring into five 'localities' in an effort to reduce geographical barriers to care.

The trust is also due to open the Rivers Centre, a revamp of its Hellesdon Hospital headquarters with an additional 17 beds, in the coming weeks.

Aerial photograph of Hellesdon Hospital (Image: Mike Page)Ms Donovan added: "Evidence of our improvement includes the eradication of the 52-week waiting list for children and young people waiting for assessment and a 59pc reduction in the number of adult community patients waiting 18 weeks or longer for treatment.

"We are also investing in additional bed capacity and look forward to our £55m Rivers Centre opening"

"We have much more to do. The insight and support from our partner organisations, service users, families and carers and indeed, the campaign, is aiding in our progress.

"Together, we can make sure our local communities receive the safer, kinder and better mental health services they rightly deserve."