‘I am truly sorry’: NHS trust boss gives apology to families of Nottingham attack victims

An NHS trust boss has apologised to the Nottingham attack victims’ families concerning the care of a paranoid schizophrenic who went on to murder three people.

On Friday 20th September at the annual general meeting of the trust, Ifti Majid has said the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s care of Valdo Calocane “let down our patients and their families and for this I am truly sorry” reports the BBC.

Calocane was under their care from May 2020 to September 2022, and has been handed a hospital order over the killings of Ian Coates, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber last year.

In August, a report was released by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) demonstrating the failings of the NHS and police in preventing the killings. The victim’s families said this “demonstrates gross, systemic failures in the mental health trust”.

According to the BBC, Mr Majid said he had spoken with the families of the victims, claiming the trust “didn’t wait for the CQC special review to conclude to begin making improvements”.

“No-one should have to go through this, and I offer my heartfelt apologies for the opportunities we missed in the care and treatment of Valdo Calocane, to all of those who continue to be affected by what happened on that dreadful day,” he said.

“It is clear that sometimes we have let down our patients [and] their families, and for this I am truly sorry.”

As one of their current changes occurring, Mr Majid said every patient in the community mental health services now had a risk assessment and a crisis plan. As well as this audited therapeutic observations, more nursing leaders at in-patient care, and daily safety meeting to review staffing levels.

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Additionally to the CQC report, Nottingham City Council’s health and adult social care scrutiny committee met to discuss the upcoming progress for the trust.

Sajid Mohammed, a Labour councillor, said it is “very important that we get clarification and assurance” regarding the trust’s understanding of the issues it faces, adding the “organisational culture of denial” needs to change.

Speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham, the chairman of the committee, Georgia Power said more needs to be done by the trust to reassure families affected by failings who had “just not been listened to” before the attacks.

“Since the CQC inspection [reports] have come out there seems to be sort of an acknowledgment in meetings, that things have gone wrong [and] people have been harmed, but it doesn’t really seem to match the performance on the outside,” she said.

“Until they start acknowledging what they’ve done freely, and not just because they’re pressed to in a meeting, there isn’t going to be that openness and transparency.”

Feature image via Youtube

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