Thread by @nikkijfox

1. All inpatient mental health beds for children run by EPUT have been closed to new admissions. Essex: Children harmed by mental health service failings - BBC News bbc.com/news/uk-englan…

This is the same trust recently fined £1.5m after the deaths of 11 other patients in its care. These three units have 38 beds so this has hugely reduced the number of children/young people’s mental health beds in East of England.

NHSE are yet to/have failed to tell us what that amounts to as a percentage of CAMHS beds in East of England

The inspection was prompted after the death of one of the patients. Mistakes continued after their death. Including failing to monitor patients properly in 8 out of 12 records checked

Update: NHSE say that there are 38 beds at the units in Essex which is a quarter of the total number of Children/young people’s mental health beds in the East of England. A quarter of bed capacity has been lost for young people in this region temporarily.

We know of one teenager who was sedated and placed in INTENSIVE CARE as it was the only safe option. Parent was happy with that as at least staff one to one and caring but thinks inappropriate. Same teenager then placed in adult bed. Then placed AT HOME UNDER SECTION as no bed

Parent says no community psychiatrist or trained support worker in community (vacancies) so she had to remain under section (or lose support) with a daily phone call from ward staff on adult ward.

Many of the children affected also diagnosed with autism.

This is Elise Sebastian. She was 16 years old. She was supposed to be on 1:1 observations, but was left in her room at St Aubyn Centre and found dead.

CEO of Essex Partnership University Trust Paul Scott says:
“We take the CQC’s findings very seriously, and following their inspection visit in May we took immediate action to make sustainable improvements to our services for children and their families...

- these include increasing staffing levels, delivering ongoing coaching and mentoring for our staff in observing our patients and engaging with them and strengthening clinical and operational leadership.”

Shame they couldn’t/wouldn’t do an interview

NHS England says:
 
Children and young people are placed in the most clinically appropriate environment for their needs and risks at the time of admission, with the aim of that being as close to home as possible....

...Specialised inpatient services are clinically-led, and accessible nationally by any child or young person who meets the criteria for admission.”

Background from NHSE: “Beds do close temporarily on occasion for a number of reasons, and this is closely monitored”

All of this has renewed calls for a full statutory public enquiry into mental health deaths in Essex.

Nadine Dorries has instead gone ahead with an independent (non statutory) inquiry. It won’t be able to legally call those no longer working at trust to give evidence.

The reduction in beds locally could threaten the target the government set to end out of area placements...unless children are placed in hospital or adult beds or at home on section

Report here...and to hear one mother talk about how her daughter was placed in intensive care, in adult bed and at home under section as there were no suitable beds: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod…

Or support in community

1). To anyone wondering about the section at home aspect...
First she was sectioned on a s2 to ITU at a local district general Hospital. Then moved to an adult mental health unit, still on s2 but she was given leave to come home because she was child and adult bed unsuitable

2. While at home....
She had to remain on the section 2 to be able to access support from the ward because of she was discharged there is no community support available.

3. She was still sectioned to the hospital to be able to keep the bed but given section 17 leave to come home because the hospital was unsuitable as she was a child.

Basically work around as other choices no help or adult bed

4. But then the CAMHS team were arguing that she needed a bed and were still looking for a child’s bed. The only reason she was sent home on leave was because the adult ward was unsuitable.