Norfolk's most senior coroner has said she is still concerned about the culture at the region's troubled mental health trust.

Jacqueline Lake, senior coroner for Norfolk, said she is still worried that the crisis team at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is "not as proactive as it should be".

Her comments came during the fourth day of an inquest into the death of Christopher Sidle, a 51-year-old man who died after falling from a taxi on the NDR during a psychotic episode.

Eastern Daily Press: Christopher Sidle, who died while under the care of NSFT

The court had previously heard Mr Sidle had been rejected by NSFT's crisis team on three occasions during the last months of his life - including days before the incident on July 1.

Mrs Lake said: "In 2022, I issued a report in respect of the crisis team concerning a culture of bullying which has not come across in this case, so I am satisfied that has been dealt with.

"However, I am concerned there is still a culture which is not as proactive as it should be."

Eastern Daily Press: Senior coroner Jacqueline Lake. PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY

Mrs Lake also reiterated questions regarding two assessments carried out on Mr Sidle, from North Walsham, during which it was judged he did not require the crisis team's care.

She said: "I feel the assessments were not carried out deeply enough - they almost seemed to accept what he was telling them without probing any further and not taking into account anything Dr Sidle was telling them about his history."

Nicky Shaw, a lead nurse at NSFT, said that since Mr Sidle's death, the trust had made changes to the way it assesses whether people require crisis care.

She said members of community services would also be participating in assessments and that only clinicians of a certain level of seniority would be able to carry them out independently.

She added: "Crisis care should be seen as an add-on for patients, with care in the community continuing rather than being replaced."