Tag Archives: Norfolk

Hundreds attend first mental health campaign meeting in Norwich

Patients and NHS workers were urged to lobby commissioners and MPs at the launch of a public campaign to save mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk.

There was standing room only as hundreds of people packed into a room at the Vauxhall Centre in Norwich tonight for the first Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk meeting.

The campaign was launched by front-line workers as a result of ongoing cuts by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), which is planning to cut £40m from its budget and reduce the number of inpatient beds by 20pc by 2016.

Officials from the campaign called on the government and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), which control local health budgets, to invest more in mental health services to put a stop to incidents where patients have to be placed on wards outside of Norfolk and Suffolk because there are not enough beds.

Plea for more support services after almost a third of Norfolk and Suffolk GPs say there is little point diagnosing dementia

Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance launch event in Norwich. Willie Cruickshank of Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance

Friday, November 22, 2013
11:36 AM

Calls have been made to improve support for people with dementia after almost a third of Norfolk and Suffolk GPs surveyed said there was little point in diagnosing the condition because of a lack of support services.

NHS chiefs have called on the dementia diagnosis rate, which is currently around 40pc, to be raised to 66pc by 2015.

However, the results of a new survey by the Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance, revealed that 29pc of GPs questioned said that there was little point in diagnosing people with dementia because there were inadequate or no support services in their area. More than 100 GPs from across Norfolk and Suffolk responded to the questionnaire, which was coordinated by the University of East Anglia.

Bishop of Norwich set for fundraising ‘leap of faith’

The 30th anniversary of Norfolk charity the Matthew Project, which supports people with drug and alcohol issues across the county

Mock-up of Bishop of Norwich skydive Mock-up of Bishop of Norwich skydive

Friday, November 15, 2013
2:44 PM

The Bishop of Norwich is no stranger to leaps of faith.

One performed thousands of feet in the air with someone strapped to your back is rather a different matter.

But that is what the Rt Revd Graham James is preparing for, to mark the 30th anniversary of Norfolk charity the Matthew Project, which supports people with drug and alcohol issues across the county.

He said: “Christians have often spoken about taking a ‘leap of faith’. I’m doing so in a tandem sky dive next May as patron of the Matthew Project.

“When I came to Norwich 14 years ago it was one of the first local organisations to ask me to become its patron.