A mother whose son died while in the care of Norfolk's troubled mental health trust has called for a public inquiry.

Caroline Aldridge, whose son died while facing mental health troubles, has spoken out about his experience.

Speaking on BBC Radio Four, Ms Aldridge said her son, Tim Shanahan, who died in Norwich in 2014 aged 30, had struggled to get support from the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).

"If he had the right help early enough I think he could have had a different pathway and outcome," explained Ms Aldridge, who was a mental health professional at the time of her son's death.

"He wasn't just let down by the trust he was let down by a wider system and I include myself in that - I didn't shout loud enough for the help he needed."

Eastern Daily Press: NSFT is looking to elect eight new members of the public to it council of governorsNSFT is looking to elect eight new members of the public to it council of governors (Image: Newsquest)

Earlier this year, a Care Quality Commission report said NSFT had 115 unexpected deaths between September 2019 and September 2021.

Ms Aldridge said she believes the number of unexpected deaths since large-scale changes at the trust in 2013 to be in the thousands.

She called for a public inquiry into the trust to establish how many people have died and why.

Zoe Billingham, who took over as NSFT chair in January, apologised for the "abject failings" of the service.

However, she did not think the "nuclear option" of the trust being taken over by the government, which had Ms Aldrige's support, was necessary at this time.

Ms Billingham said: "For almost a decade we have not provided good enough mental health services. The organisation just needs to change.

"People are waiting far too long and indeed unless you are very seriously ill, you are not being admitted. We don't have the capacity at the moment to keep people safe in our communities."

Eastern Daily Press: Zoe Billingham, chair of NSFTZoe Billingham, chair of NSFT (Image: Geoff Pugh Photography Limited)

Ms Billingham promised the trust would "take an entirely different approach" with critical areas around patient safety needing to be fixed. This included making sure the right level of training was available, staff are probably supervised and medicine is administered safely.

Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust was rated inadequate for the fourth times in six years.

Earlier this month, 140 of its own doctors wrote to the trust saying they lacked confidence in the leadership