NHS trust to review all suicides since 2017

The deaths of dozens of people who took their own lives while patients of an NHS trust will be reviewed after concerns were raised.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) will review all 63 suicides since 2017.

It comes after the trust was accused of adding to the records of Charles Ndhlovu, 33, the day after he took his own life to "correct their mistakes".

The trust's chief Anna Hills said it "will be an important piece of work".

Mr Ndhlovu, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and substance misuse, had been under CPFT's care for two months when he died in Ely in 2017.

Last month, his mother Angelina Pattison, from Newmarket, Suffolk, told the BBC his care plan "was done when he died - when they were running around to correct their mistakes, which they have done".

A former CPFT employee, understood to have handled the complaint from Ms Pattison, said he raised concerns of "possible criminal activity" in the case.

The trust's reporting process aimed at learning from serious incidents was also criticised in Mr Ndhlovu's case and in that of James Nowshadi, a 23-year-old who took his own life in 2020.

Mr Nowshadi's mother Maria said she was "very relieved" the review was taking place.

She said concerns she raised while the trust was reviewing her son's death were not addressed.

"I think there are some questions," she said.

"I think individual practitioners do a good job within CPFT but I think the organisation could handle things better."

An internal review into suicides confirmed by a coroner has been commissioned by Ms Hills and the trust's chief nurse, Penny Snowden, who have been in post for about a year.

The trust - which provides care in Health Secretary Steve Barclay's North East Cambridgeshire constituency - said one of the key priorities for the pair is understanding from patient deaths, while concerns have also been raised to Ms Hills and in the media.

Trust board papers state one of the "emerging issues" as "correspondence from BBC regarding historic suicide case - thematic review of suicides to be undertaken and timescales for completion to be determined".

The full scope of the review has yet to be established, but family members have been involved in setting them.

Ms Hills said: "The review will examine patient deaths, how we provide families with the information they need, how we recognise crucial themes and how we embed the learnings into our future care.

"This will be an important piece of work and will include concerns which have been raised about serious incident investigations.

"This will cover the period from 2017 - when we signed up to the Zero Suicide Alliance - to the present day.

"The issues around suicide are sensitive and complex. We know there is no single cause and no single solution, and the effects are devastating on families, friends, and our staff who work so closely with patients.

"Above all, we continue to believe that suicide is not inevitable, and we can continue to improve our understanding and clinical practice."