Mental Health Solicitors

A new report has outlined the impact of budget cuts on mental health services run by the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), which was placed into special measures in February this year.

Local publisher EDP24 reports that the details of the 2014 survey of mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk reveal that many staff felt the trust was too financially driven and “too savage” in cutting experienced staff.

NSFT cut 20% of its annual mental health budget and reorganised services for patients. In November 2013, EDP24 reported that the trust had been spending millions of pounds on sending patients out of the area for inpatient acute care treatment and special placements, such as care in mother and baby units.

Mental health patients also complained that they were forced to wait for months to access therapies, including talking therapies for mild to moderate mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Prior to the new report, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Michael Scott warned the financial constraints imposed upon the trust by central government were “too great and likely to have an impact”.

It was reported earlier in 2015 that NHS trusts’ income for mental health services had fallen by 8.25% in real terms over the last five years, despite increasing demand on mental health services.

A&E departments have also reported more mental health patients using A&E for mental healthcare, as they are unable to access care via new community-based helplines and projects, which in some areas have replaced inpatient care, in favour of less institutionalised care at home.

A spokesman for the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk said:

“As such, the funding the service receives from Norfolk’s Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) has been cut, while physical health services, such as hospitals, have seen an increase.

“Mental health needs to be resourced properly – and until the gap in funding if filled we will continue to see these issues arise.”

A summary report outlining the key issues and lessons learned from the NSFT restructuring – the Trust Service Strategy – was drawn-up in December 2014, with the trust saying it would use the lessons learned not to repeat previous mistakes.

According to Emma Corlett – Unison steward at the NSFT – there has been culture change within the trust.

“Staff certainly feel that senior managers are listening and have been much more visible and willing to learn the problems faced.

“In spite of this, pretty much all of the challenges mentioned in the report still exist now.”

Chief executive of NSFT Michael Scott conceded that not all the problems had been resolved:

“There are still issues for our staff and we are addressing these.

“We recognise the pressures on them and we are working together with them and the unions to make our trust a very different place to work in the future.

“But we all understand it will take time – and we are in an ever-difficult environment of funding pressures.”

Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors

Duncan Lewis can advise NHS mental health patients on access to services and their rights under the Mental Health Act.

Duncan Lewis mental health solicitors are the largest provider of Legal Aid mental health services in the UK – and are available at short notice for appointments at hospitals and police stations nationwide.
For expert legal advice on mental health law, call the Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors Helpline on 0203 114 1124.