Mental health campaigners to meet MPs

Mental health campaigners from Norfolk and Suffolk are travelling to London to meet MPs to raise concerns about the troubled local NHS mental health trust.

The Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk & Suffolk is raising concerns about prevention of future death reports (PFDRs) that mention the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), which provides mental health services.

A number of PFDRs published by coroners in 2024 have raised concerns over the NHS's handling of some cases.

Cath Byford, deputy chief executive officer at NSFT, said: "We continue to work with service users, carers, families and campaign groups as we progress with our improvement journey and ambition to provide safer, kinder, better care."

PFDRs are prepared by coroners following inquest, where they believe action is needed to protect lives or lessons need to be learnt.

Campaigner Mark Harrison said: “The issues we raise have so often been referred to by NSFT, MPs and those with power to contribute to change as 'historic'.

"Our research demonstrates these are present and ongoing and without an injection of funding and decisive, bold action, Norfolk and Suffolk will continue to lose individuals to completely unnecessary and preventable deaths, and families will lose loved ones."

Campaigners will be in Westminster on Monday and are hoping to meet MPs from across the two counties, and to raise their concerns with the Labour government.

Ellen Woolnough, from Ipswich, died aged 27 while under the care of NSFT in 2022.

She had struggled with her mental health and had been in contact with the trust's crisis team.

Coroner Dr Darren Stewart said there had been "failings" by NSFT, whose crisis team had downgraded her case from "emergency" to "urgent".

Dr Stewart explained how NSFT policy required approval from a secondary clinician before that step was taken, but this did not occur.

Owen Gardner died, aged 29, when he was hit by a car in 2023.

In a PFDR, coroner Nigel Parsley said: "Owen had a limited short-term memory and a cognitive deficit, due to the previous traumatic brain injuries."

"It was agreed his next-of-kin would be informed of all of the appointments Owen had with the NSFT clinicians."

He said his family had been informed of some meetings, but not all of them, and Mr Gardnet missed a number of appointments, as he had forgotten about changes to appointment times.

Christopher Sidle, from North Walsham, Norfolk, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and died in July 2023 after receiving head injuries from jumping out of a taxi travelling at about 30mph.

Jacqueline Lake, senior coroner for Norfolk, concluded after an inquest that opportunities to provide appropriate care were missed.

Nigel Hammond died in Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on 14 March, three days after falling at his Suffolk home.

The coroner, in his PDFR, said a mental health support team could have got him help sooner, had they not needed to go through a GP first.

The mental health trust's Ms Byford said: "We meet regularly with the campaign committee and our most recent meeting was in mid-October, with a further meeting arranged for January.

"Campaign committee members are involved in our learning from deaths work, helping the trust to improve future patient care and services.

"We continue to work closely with them and have found the feedback and insight they have given to our improvement work to help shape future services valuable."

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