The boss of the region's struggling mental health trust is facing criticism for refusing to reveal details of his strategy to bring its services up to an adequate standard.
Stuart Richardson, CEO of the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT), is resisting attempts to publish the 'action plan' he was forced to submit to the health watchdog, after a recent inspection saw it rated 'inadequate' for the fifth time in seven years.
The action plan was demanded by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which ordered the Trust to improve 109 different issues across seven services just to meet legal requirements.
The CQC has refused a separate request to publish the document, claiming "regulatory matters are still ongoing".
Mr Richardson has declined a Freedom of Information request from this newspaper to publish the full plan, saying it would "inhibit staff from the organisation participating in frank and open discussions with the Care Quality Commission".
But Mark Harrison, of Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk, a campaign group calling for better mental health care, said: “That is nonsense.
"And what does it say about the state of the place, that staff couldn’t speak openly to the CQC if they thought their words might be reported? What else are they hiding?
“These mealy-mouthed, pathetic excuses are just not good enough. It’s a culture of secrecy and it has to change.”
The recent unannounced inspection of NSFT by the CQC found a litany of severe failings including unsafe staffing levels, insufficiently trained staff, failure to remove ligature points, out of date risk assessments, failure to report or learn from incidents, poor maintenance of patient records, and ineffective management of medicines.
The trust was instructed to submit an action plan to describe how it was addressing concerns. The trust has published a summary of the plan on its website, but this newspaper asked to see the document in full. We were refused, and now Mr Richardson is resisting our request under the 2000 Act.
He has previously spoken of the need for the trust to be more transparent.
Speaking after the recent CQC report, he said: "I am fully aware of problems the trust has had in the past, so I want to create an environment that is open and honest and where staff feel their are listened to and their concerns are heard. A fresh start."
We will appeal to the Information Commissioner to overturn the refusal by the trust and by the CQC. Mr Richardson has declined to comment.
Cath Byford, the trust's deputy chief executive, said: “We are currently working with our service users, staff and partners to develop a sustainable, longer-term improvement plan. We are inviting the public to a series of engagement events taking place over the coming weeks. Feedback from those will help shape this action plan.
“We will keep our website updated and public informed as this plan develops and hope to begin delivering it during September.”
A CULTURE OF SECRECY
Campaigner Mark Harrison said he "would have been surprised" if the trust had acceded to our FOI request. "If you look at the Tracy Wood case, you can see what the culture of secrecy is like," he said.
Ms Wood, 40, died on June 3 last year while an inpatient under NSFT's care, receiving treatment for borderline personality disorder at Hellesdon Hospital.
In her Prevention of Future Deaths report, Norfolk coroner Jacqueline Wood said concerns from NSFT staff about a lack of staff on the ward, included in the first draft, had been removed from the final report, which also omitted testimony from "members of staff who had involvement with Tracy in the hours and days prior to her death".
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