Minister orders ‘special review’ of embattled trust

The review will be carried out by the Care Quality Commission and run alongside an Independent Mental Health Homicide Review, which has been ordered by NHS England to examine the case.

Mr Calocane was treated for paranoid schizophrenia at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust before killing Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in Nottingham last June.

He had been in and out of the trust’s Highbury Hospital for years and also treated by a community mental health team. It has been reported that for almost a year before the attack he was unmedicated and out of touch with psychiatric services.

His plea of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility was accepted by prosecutors last week.

The review will also focus on wider issues in mental healthcare provision in Nottinghamshire, including at Highbury Hospital and Rampton Hospital.

High secure Rampton was again rated “inadequate” by the CQC after an inspection over the summer and it was prevented from admitting new patients without prior approval.

Last month, more than 30 staff were suspended from Highbury Hospital over serious allegations including mistreating patients and falsifying records, the Independent revealed last week.

It comes as the trust is also planning to embark on a major management restructure expected to include redundancies, with sources suggesting  finances are a driving factor.

The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed in a statement this morning: “Investigations continue at Highbury Hospital in the light of separate recent staff suspensions and a rapid improvement plan is under way, overseen by a new oversight board established to ensure appropriate action is being taken.”

Commenting on the review, health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins said: “My thoughts remain with the families and friends of Barnaby, Grace and Ian, who lost their lives in such a tragic, cruel and barbaric way.”

“It is crucial that our mental health services ensure both the care of patients and the safety of the public.

“I hope the review provides the families and public with some much-needed answers, and that it helps the trust to improve the standard of mental healthcare in Nottinghamshire.”

CQC director of mental health Chris Dzikiti said: “We will conduct a rapid review into mental health services in Nottingham to understand whether there are any practical actions which can be taken to improve the quality of services and ensure people receive safe and effective care. We will begin this work immediately, aiming to report to the secretary of state before the end of March.”

Separately, last autumn, the government announced the Health Services Safety Investigations Body would lead a national investigation into mental health inpatient care settings, including inpatient deaths and the transition between child and adult mental health services.