By James Simons-
Nhs England has approved a £44m major expansion of a main mental health hospital in Norfolk, which was criticized by a coroner over a student’s death.
The project, named the River Centre, is poised to add 48 new bedrooms to the site and 32 existing rooms refurbished. The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) will take the total number of available mental health beds on site up to 80.
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At a meeting of NSFT’s governors, chief medical officer Dan Dalton, who is an expert in mental health issues, revealed the project had hit a milestone.
He told the governors: “The outline business case for the project has now been agreed by NHS England and will now go to its joint investment and scrutiny committee for final approval.” If the plans get the go-ahead we will be in a position to really press ahead and make progress.”
The trust has been awarded a whapping £38m of government cash to invest in the project, with Broadland Council having already given planning permission to the overhaul.
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Mr Dalton added: “It is going to be a service for the future and will enable people to get the right treatment in the appropriate way.”
On the same day as news of the government funding, a coroner has criticized the mental health trust after a student with a history of self-harm was discovered dead in a university room.
First-year student Theo Brennan-Hulme’s body was found at the University of East Anglia on 12 March 2019.
An assessment by the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) a few days before was “inadequate”, Norfolk coroner Jacqueline Lake said.
The trust said the support it offered “should have been better”.
On Wednesday, the Norwich inquest returned a conclusion of suicide.
Mr Brennan-Hulme, 21, from Stoke-on-Trent, had Asperger’s syndrome – a form of autism – and suffered from anxiety attacks, as well as having a history of self-harm and suicidal thoughts, the inquest heard
First-year student at the University of East Anglia: Mr Brennan-Hulme
He had sought the help of the university’s wellbeing service and liaised with his academic adviser during his induction week in September 2018, the inquest heard.
After he attended Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s accident and emergency department, he was referred to the NHS mental health service, but appointments were cancelled due to staff shortages and letters sent to the wrong address, the coroner heard.
The student began to miss seminars and wellbeing service appointments following the Christmas holiday.
Adrian Matthews, one of NSFT’s non-executive directors, added that the trust did not know the final figure for contractor costs, but that quotes would be examined once the scheme is approved.
Mr Dalton said the recent wave of the Omicron had torn through the trust’s staff in recent weeks.
He added: “It has been an extraordinarily difficult last six weeks. At some points we have had one in three of our staff members unable to work because they were either isolating, had the virus themselves or had to look after a loved one who is isolating.
“At some times we had almost half off and it took an extraordinary effort for us to continue to keep our key services going.”
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