Trust scraps suicides review

A trust has announced it is scrapping a major suicides review, prompting concerns about the “devastating” impact the surprise move could have on some grieving families.

The concerns from a whistleblower—and a family member who has reportedly expressed their “upset and shock”—come despite the provider’s insistence they had taken relatives’ views into account when reaching their decision.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust originally announced plans for the review of over 60 cases in July last year—a move which followed allegations that a patient’s record was tampered with after they had died by suicide in the trust’s care. A chair was appointed to lead the review just last month.

But in a short statement on its website, the trust said it had now taken the decision “not to proceed with [the review] as originally intended [after] speaking with several families and loved ones with lived experience” of the suicide cases, which date back to 2017.

The review had been “planned with the best of intentions [but] it has become clear… that the review would not answer the individual and highly personal questions some families might have,” the trust said.

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Source: HSJ, 13 May 2024