WEST NORFOLK: Dementia patient angry at cutbacks
Sunday 5 May 2013
WEST NORFOLK: Dementia patient angry at cutbacks
A mental health patient has criticised planned cuts in dementia services as a money-saving operation.
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust announced two weeks ago that staff numbers in Dementia and Complexity in Later Life services in West and Central Norfolk would be cut from 178 to 137.
The redundancies were said to be part of a four-year strategy involving “huge and complex” changes including new local commissioning arrangements and financial restraints caused by the recession and public spending cuts.
A former patient of the Fermoy Unit in Lynn, James Cramp, 69, of Columbia Way, was concerned about job cuts at the Chatterton House dementia unit and the Fermoy Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Mr Cramp, who has bi-polar disorder, said staff from the Fermoy Unit with experience in mental health nursing were being moved to Chatterton House although they had no experience of caring for dementia patients.
He feared there would not be enough staff left at the Fermoy Unit to maintain control when difficult patients “kicked off.”
Mr Cramp was also concerned about possible changes to the community service provided by the Intensive Support Team. Team members visited him at home every day.
He said: “It’s a money-saving operation. Patients are not being considered.”
Kate Willis, the Trust’s West Norfolk Locality Manager, said: “We can reassure anyone currently receiving care from an Intensive Support Team in West Norfolk that they will continue to do so.”
As part of the service strategy implementation, services in West Norfolk were changing to provide the most appropriate treatment for patients in the most appropriate setting, which was often at home.
She said: “The main focus of the strategy is enhancing community-based care and reducing the number of hospital admissions.” All staff would have specialist understanding of the mental health needs of all age groups.
As part of the service strategy, some staff had applied for and secured a new role in the dementia service. “Anyone appointed will be appropriately qualified,” she said.
There were no plans to further reduce staff at the Fermoy Unit or Chatterton House after the announced redundancies. All staff were appropriately trained to deal with any event.
She said: “The strategy is built around patient care. We appreciate change is difficult. We want to reassure anyone in contact with our services that if there is any short-term disruption while these changes are being implemented we will ensure service users are kept fully informed.”
