Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Trust medics send no confidence letter to bosses

The letter was addressed to Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Trust trust chair Zoe Billingham CBE

More than 140 doctors at an NHS mental health trust have sent a letter of no confidence to its senior leadership.

Medics at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Trust (NSFT) told its chair that "endemic issues show little sign of resolving".

It is the only mental healthcare provider in the support programme formerly known as special measures.

The trust's deputy chief executive Cath Byford said they "shared the concerns raised by colleagues".

The leadership of NSFT is currently rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which recently highlighted how more than 100 patients had died unexpectedly in a two-year period.

Campaigners have claimed the true number is much higher.

In a letter from the Medical Staffing Committee (MSC), seen by the BBC, doctors highlighted a "general dysfunction with both perpetual changes in key executive posts".

It concluded by saying "the substantive medical staff body lacks confidence in the executive board to resolve the plight of NSFT".

'Clinical workhorses'

The trust has had eight chief executives in the previous decade.

The MSC, which represents more than 100 doctors and consultants, detailed its concerns to trust chair Zoe Billingham under a series of headings:

• Staffing: Shortages meant that "in some circumstances clinical services were both unable to provide good basic care and are unsafe"

• Culture: Concerns over communication and transparency with major decisions "frequently made by a handful of people at executive level without consulting clinicians"

• Trust Management: "Ever increasing layers of management at senior, middle and service level"

• Marginalisation of Medical Staff: Consultants and specialists complained that they are not consulted when important decisions are made - "our expertise is not utilised"

The letter describes demoralised doctors as being treated like "clinical workhorses" with "huge" caseloads creating clinical risks, along with regular resignations.

The BBC understands the letter was unanimously agreed at a private meeting of the MSC in June and it was drafted by a group of six members.

Non-medical staff and locums did not take part and the letter called for a meeting with Ms Billingham.

NSFT is the only mental health provider in the NHS's recovery support programme for failing trusts

According to the trust's annual report, covering the 2019-20 financial year, the average number of employees was 4,292 with total annual expenditure of £264m.

Last month a new interim chief medical officer, Dr Alex Lewis, was announced.

The CQC also identified some improvements in its most recent inspection report, rating the trust as good for the quality of care provided by staff.

But the regulator threatened NSFT with enforcement action if urgent changes were not made.

Cath Byford, deputy chief executive at NSFT, said: "We share the concerns raised by our medical colleagues. We value their views and are committed to working closely with them as we continue to make improvements on behalf of our service users and their families.

"One of our new chief medical officer's top priorities is to engage fully with our medical staff to make sure they are given every opportunity to make a valuable contribution to these improvements."