Special review into mental health services (Part 2) - an open letter from Ifti Majid, Chief Executive, Nottinghamshire Healthcare
Dear patients, families and carers,
Today we have received a special report by the Care Quality Commission into the care and treatment of Valdo Calocane, who took the lives of three people and severely assaulted a further three during the devastating events of June 2023.
I have offered our sincere apologies to the families of Grace, Ian and Barnaby who sadly died; and to Wayne, Sharon and Marcion who suffered traumatic injuries. I have committed to do everything in my power to prevent such a tragic event reoccurring, and I recognise the obvious pain and suffering they continue to endure. This is something that will stay with me and makes me even more determined to bring about improvements.
We have a dual role as a mental healthcare provider to support our patients to live well as independently as possible, while managing any potential risk they could pose to themselves or others.
I acknowledge and accept the findings in the report. We aim to be a learning organisation that benefits from feedback and challenges and have significantly improved processes and standards since the review was carried out.
Our local mental health teams now have more contact with people waiting to be seen in the community to agree crisis plans and ensure they have an up-to-date risk assessment, even when they are struggling to engage with our services or primary care.
Colleagues are also working to improve alignment between our teams, primary care and talking therapies, helping to reduce waiting times as well as communicate more effectively when patients move between services or disengage from treatment.
Our community teams now give greater priority to risk management at every stage of the patient pathway. They ask more questions about whether families have been involved in decisions; whether GPs have been informed; and if risks have been referred to appropriate agencies.
This work is part of a clear plan to address the issues highlighted, and we are doing everything in our power to understand where we missed opportunities and learn from them.
There is a lot more work needed to deliver all the improvements we want for our patients, carers, and their families. Over the coming weeks we are establishing patient and staff reference groups to scrutinise and test our improvement plans. And, once we have addressed all immediate safety concerns, we aim to support colleagues to embed improvements over the long term.
Foremost in our minds today, however, are the people who lost loved ones, and whose lives changed irreparably following the catastrophic events of June last year.
If you’re struggling with your mental health, then there is support available. Talking therapies are effective and confidential treatments and can help with mental health problems like stress, anxiety and depression. You can access services on the Notts Talk website.
Our mental health crisis line can be accessed 24/7 on 0808 196 3779 and is available to anyone in mental health crisis at anytime, anywhere across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
Other local mental health support services can be found here.
Ifti Majid
Chief Executive
Nottinghamshire Healthcare
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