Nottinghamshire Council pauses NHS contract renewal pending full watchdog review

The Nottinghamshire Healthy Families Programme is implemented by the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT).

Part of the programme includes identifying children and young people who are at risk of harm, or those who need additional support.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is carrying out an urgent review of the trust’s mental healthcare following its contact with triple killer Valdo Calocane.

Calocane fatally stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old former Bulwell Academy caretaker Ian Coates, in Nottingham last June.

He made a plea of manslaughter by diminished responsibility, due to suffering from severe mental health problems at the time.

He’d previously been in the care of the trust.

The families of Calocane’s victims continue to call for a public inquiry into the way the case was handled, saying the law, as it stands, has allowed Calocane to, in their eyes, effectively ‘get away with murder’.

An initial report, published on Tuesday, March 26, found mental health patients and the public were being put at risk due to delays at NHFT and the care not always being suitable.

The county council’s Healthy Families contract with the trust is due to expire in October 2024.

The council’s cabinet voted on March 28 to postpone this while awaiting the publication of the final part of the review.

A report states there is ‘a potential risk to the quality of Healthy Families Programme service delivered and the subsequent outcomes for children and families in Nottinghamshire’.

A decision on the contract will be made at a later date by Coun Scott Carlton (Con), cabinet member for public health and communities.

Coun Ben Bradley MP (Con), council leader, told the meeting: “It is really important we have continuity of services.

“But given the pressure on that service and the outcome of the report, it’s important we take time to make right long-term decision.

“The only thing we can do is to pause and make sure support is there for families and children.”

The third part of the CQC’s report, focusing specially on the care available to Valdo Calocane, will be published in the summer.

The CQC expressed concerns that people might hurt themselves or others while waiting for mental health care.

Rampton Hospital, a secure Nottinghamshire psychiatric hospital run by the trust, was improving but not quickly enough, the report also found.

Becky Sutton, chief operating officer of Nottinghamshire Healthcare, said: “Our healthy family teams support the health and wellbeing of children, young people, and families across Nottinghamshire.

"We provide an invaluable service, which is well established and well-received.

“We look forward to working with our partners in the council over the coming months so together we can build on the great work in progress and achieve our collective ambition to further grow and develop the offer to children and families across Nottinghamshire.”

Ifti Majid, chief executive of the trust, said he was ‘truly sorry’ for failings highlighted in the report.