License of mental health trust may be removed

NHS England says the mental health trust that treated the killer who carried out the Nottingham attacks must attend monthly progress meetings to discuss improvements or face losing its licence.

Waldo Caloocan received a hospital order after admitting to the murders of Ian Coates, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber on 13 June 2023.

He was under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust from May 2020 to September 2022.

NHS England report A special review of the Trust’s services details “a number of failings” found and outlines steps to be taken to improve, as well as “way forward” if any of these steps are not met. A warning of “formal action” has also been issued.

The report said NHS England had “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the trust was failing to comply with certain conditions of its licence.

This includes quality of care, leadership and governance as well as financial performance.

It states: “The licensee will attend monthly inspection and assurance meetings with NHS England to discuss its progress in the essential tasks set out in this document.”

in August, a scandalous report The report was issued by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which the victims’ families said “reveals serious, systemic failings in the mental health trust”.

Rampton Hospital, a high-security facility run by the trust, was rated inadequate by a CQC report published in January.

A special review was launched in March, which found “numerous failings” in relation to safety and quality of care at community mental health services and Rampton Hospital.

The review also highlighted failures in care “in relation to a serious homicide incident”, for which NHS England launched an independent homicide investigation.

The report says that whatever recommendations come from this should be included in the plan of the trust.

The report said the trust was required to take “all appropriate steps” to address the concerns raised by the CQC reports from 2023 unless found inadequate by inspectors.

It stipulates that the Trust should continue to submit a monthly, board-approved progress report in relation to these steps and a separate progress report against the 25 recommendations set out by the special review.

The report also said the trust reported a year-end deficit of £22m in the financial year 2023-24 and failed to develop a plan for the following year that failed to meet NHS England requirements .

“These failures by the licensee reflect a governance failure,” the report said.