Cambridgeshire NHS trust makes U-turn over suicides review

Charles Ndhlovu's mother Angelina Pattison said he "loved his family"

The deaths of dozens of patients at a mental health trust who took their own lives will be reviewed externally after fears of a "cover-up" were raised.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) initially said a review of all suicides since 2017 would be internal.

The trust had been accused of adding to a patient's records the day after he died to "correct mistakes".

A trust spokesman said they had listened to bereaved families.

The review's announcement followed a report by the BBC into the death of 33-year-old Charles Ndhlovu, who had been under CPFT's care for two months when he died in Ely in 2017.

His mother Angelina Pattison, from Newmarket, Suffolk, said his care plan "was done when he died - when they were running around to correct their mistakes, which they have done".

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Hannah Roberts was a "straight A student", her mother said

Since then, the mother of Hannah Roberts, 22, who died by suicide in 2018, said she feared a "culture of cover up" within the NHS trust.

Ms Roberts died weeks after being discharged from a CPFT-run mental health ward and her mother Sally said there were "discrepancies" in the discharge accounts.

A trust spokesman said: "Having listened to the feedback from those with lived experience of losing a loved one to suicide, and our commitment to learning from our most serious incidents, our oversight group is now working to appoint an external body to conduct the thematic review.

"Our top priority is getting this piece of work right and this decision ensures further objectivity and independence."

The terms of reference of the review are yet to be finalised, while it will seek an independent chair for its oversight group.

Sally Roberts said she was pleased the review would be independent

Ms Roberts said she and her husband were "grateful that the trust have reconsidered and decided that the review is going to be independent, as we firmly believe it will be more objective".

"We look forward to hearing from the investigator so we can raise our concerns and that lessons can be learned to prevent future suicides."