Norfolk committee rejects mental health bosses' account of report changes

NSFT chief executive Stuart Richardson and his deputy Cath Byford faced questions from the Norfolk Health Scrutiny Committee

Councillors have rejected a mental health trust's explanation for why a report had been altered to remove criticism of its bosses.

Audit firm Grant Thornton identified failings in the way the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) recorded deaths.

But the BBC reported last month the final draft had been toned down.

NSFT's chief executive maintained alterations to the report were based on fact-checking.

The Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to consider Grant Thornton's findings, which concluded the Trust had lost track of patient deaths.

The panel questioned chief executive Stuart Richardson and his deputy, Cath Byford.

Both said they accepted the report's findings, with Mr Richardson repeating his apology to bereaved families.

He assured members that NSFT was committed to implementing its recommendations on how to improve.

When asked about an investigation by the BBC's Newsnight programme which revealed the final draft appeared to remove criticism of Trust leadership, Mr Richardson said: "I'm not aware of anyone in NSFT re-writing the report or suggesting an alternative text."

"I would not condone that at all," he added.

Ms Byford said the auditors had interviewed additional members of staff and obtained new information between the drafts.

"The changes Grant Thornton made would have been based on their consideration of the evidence that was provided to them," she said.

"Some of that evidence was considered and some of it wasn't considered. We didn't try to make it favourable. Let's face it, the report was pretty damning of NSFT."

Statutory public inquiry

A comment by the Health Service Ombudsman in the Newsnight report that said, "the differences in the texts at key points are so huge that this is not just a bureaucratic drafting issue", was also addressed by the committee.

Mr Richardson said he had contacted the ombudsman Rob Behrens to discuss this, but had not received a response.

The NSFT later told the BBC a letter had not been sent at the time Mr Richardson claimed it had.

At the end of the meeting, the panel was asked to vote on a number of motions and recommendations, including whether it shared the ombudsman's concerns and rejected NSFT's explanation, which was passed.

The committee also voted to recommend a statutory public inquiry into community and inpatient deaths at NSFT but said it had no powers to make this happen.

Caroline Aldridge, whose son died while waiting for mental health care, addressed the meeting

Mr Richardson and Ms Byford also outlined during the meeting the pressures facing the trust.

They revealed how 47% of new joiners left within two years - mostly clinical support and administrative staff.

They also said it would take four years to turn things around. "We have a long way to go," said Ms Byford.

Both executives acknowledged poor staff morale, though a new independent service enabling staff to speak out had seen a large number of people come forward.

'Sanitised' findings

Others who attended were local mental health campaigners Caroline Aldridge and Anne Humphreys.

Addressing the meeting, Ms Aldridge spoke about some of her research and described the findings of the "sanitised" auditors' report "disgraceful".

Last month, Grant Thornton said: "Whilst the overall findings of the report did not change, the new evidence did adjust our assessment of significance in some areas. In addition, wording changed in some areas to highlight areas of good practice that were brought to our attention and which we believed could be broadened out to help resolve issues.

"We maintain that the final public report is an entirely independent, robust and thorough assessment of the historic matters at the trust."

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