Campaigners laid bare the heartache behind the region's failing mental health services in a meeting in Westminster.

Members of the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk met with mental health minister Gillian Keegan as they made their case for a public inquiry into the failings.

During the meeting, stories were shared of parents left without children, staff members left without support and an uncertain number of deaths within Trust patients.

The meeting was organised by Labour MP for Norwich South Clive Lewis, who chaired the meeting virtually due to having tested positive for Covid-19.

%image(14363924, type="article-full", alt="Labour's Clive Lewis called it a "baffling loophole"")

It was attended by four of Norwich and Suffolk's Conservative MPs - Duncan Baker, Tom Hunt, Peter Aldous and Dan Poulter, with James Cartlidge sending a staff member in his place.

Emma Corlett, Norfolk County Council member, said the meeting was worthwhile, but that there had been no concrete pledges to an inquiry.
She said: "I think everybody in the meeting, including the minister, were visibly shocked by what they were hearing.

"We were able to have a very frank and honest conversation about the situation.

"We discussed the extremity of deaths, the lack of confidence we have in the leadership, the bullying culture that has blighted the Trust and the lack of support for front line workers.

"The minister listened but we did not necessarily get anything concrete - although the local MPs were more committal."

During the meeting, the loved ones of five people who died while under the Trust's care gave their emotional testimonies.

These were:

%image(14363925, type="article-full", alt="Tim Shanahan, son of Caroline Aldridge, who died while under the care of NSFT")

Caroline Aldridge whose son Tim died in 2014, aged 30

%image(14363926, type="article-full", alt="Leo Jacobs was found dead at his Norwich flat in November 2016 from a suspected accidental overdose. His mother Shelia Preston has spoken out about his case. Photo: Submitted")

Sheila Preston, whose son Leo died in 2016, aged 36

%image(14363927, type="article-full", alt="Theo Brennan-Hulme")

Esther Brennan, whose son Theo died in 2019, aged 21

%image(14363928, type="article-full", alt="Peggy Copeman died on the side of the road of the M11 while being transported back to Norwich from Devon. A family photograph from her 80th birthday in September 2018. Picture: Fulcher family")

Nick Fulcher, whose mother-in-law Peggy Copeman died in 2019, aged 81

Trevor Stevens, whose daughter Tobi died in 2020, aged 19

Every MP in Norfolk was approached to attend the meeting.

Jerome Mayhew could not attend but met with campaigners afterwards.

Chloe Smith, George Freeman and Richard Bacon sent their apologies.

Brandon Lewis and Liz Truss did not respond.

Analysis

With the Trust having failed to show improvements over a sustained period of time, many feel as though a public inquiry is the only way to make sure changes can be made.

It is felt that by gathering together forensic evidence in a public forum it will force the Trust to face its challenges head on.

However, the issue is much more than simply shortcomings of the Trust.

Each time the Trust is inspected by the CQC it does hold up a mirror to its problems - but it does not address the elements of failure which lay with the wider system.

A public inquiry would be forensic and would look at how the Trust has been supported by the wider health system and government on both a local and a national scale.

By covering this ground, not looked at in CQC reports, it could also help identify changes necessary beyond NSFT as a singular organisation.

Campaigners also hope it could be the first step towards the Trust being disbanded and replaced with new organisations catering to Norfolk and Suffolk individually - rather than as a collective.

There are strong arguments for this given just how heavy demand is both sides of the border and the sheer size of both counties.

However, public inquiries are both lengthy and incredibly expensive.

If one is called, it will take a considerable amount of time for any conclusions to be drawn, and we are in a crisis now.

There would need to be utmost confidence that any inquiry would bring about reach change - which is no real guarantee.

A particularly high profile inquiry was the Francis Inquiry into failings at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which was published in 2013.

While this did create new laws requiring NHS trusts to be more open when mistakes are made in treatment - known as the duty of candour - it cost £13m.