Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust: MPs 'running out of patience'

Zoe Billingham, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust chair, said a letter from medical staff describing chronic problems "came as no surprise"

The government is drawing up "options" to deal with Norfolk and Suffolk's failing mental health trust, according to a Conservative MP.

Norwich North MP Chloe Smith said she and colleagues were "running out of patience".

It follows a meeting between a health minister, local MPs and the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).

The trust chair has acknowledged what she called a "decade of underperformance".

The talks, with the minister for mental health Gillian Keegan, discussed a three-part action plan which has been put in place to drive improvements at the trust, with the first phase focusing on immediate "must-do" tasks.

Priority areas include safety, culture, governance, dealing with demand and building capacity.

Norwich North Conservative MP Chloe Smith said ministers were drawing up "options" for the trust as it implemented an urgent action plan

Ms Smith said: "For the first time we've heard that the minister is keen to see options on the table in September, and I think I and the other MPs would support that happening because we know that this can't keep going on."

"I want to be able to see the trust succeed... but I think the crunch moment is coming in September to be able to declare whether this improvement plan is working or whether something more fundamental is required," she said.

Speaking to BBC Look East before the meeting, Ms Billingham said: "I understand the MPs' frustration. They want one thing and they want their constituents to have access to the highest quality mental health care.

"They're not getting it at the moment."

She added: "My focus is on the CQC priority 'must-do's', which means that our patients are kept safe when they're with us and we get to see more people more quickly that really need our help, and we cut our waiting list."

NSFT was rated inadequate by inspectors earlier this year

A Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection report earlier this year gave NSFT its fourth inadequate rating in six years.

The CQC is due to return to check progress and a further meeting between Ms Keegan, MPs and the trust is scheduled.

Meanwhile more than 140 doctors from the trust's medical staffing committee wrote to its chair Zoe Billingham saying they lacked confidence in the board to deal with NSFT's problems.

It was sent the same day an inquest jury heard staff at Northgate Hospital had falsified observation records on the night a patient died in his room.

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis (Labour) described the letter from doctors as "unprecedented".

"The first thing that needs to happen is that the trust needs to be taken back under direct Whitehall control," he said.

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.