Trust makes significant progress in implementing all recommendations

IN response to the report, Cygnet Hospital Derby and Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust offered their sincere condolences to all those affected by the murder.

A spokesman for the hospital said: “The patient in this case was discharged from Cygnet Hospital Derby in 2015, two years prior to the tragic events in 2017. We have accepted the recommendations of today’s report in full and are working to ensure all recommendations are fully implemented.”

Ifti Majid, chief executive of Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, welcomed the publication of the report and said: “We are fully committed to learning what we can from this tragedy in order to make improvements to our services and the way we liaise with other agencies about the management of patients who may present a risk to public safety.

“I would like to offer my apologies and condolences to the family of Sohbia for the opportunities that were missed through the care we provided. It is clear that Sobhia was a much loved, integral part of her family and that her tragic loss is still felt deeply today.

“In 2017 the trust undertook an internal investigation into the care and treatment provided to Mr A [Mustafa] prior to the events of May 2017. This investigation identified a number of ways the trust could improve the quality of our services and reduce the possibility of a similar event. An action plan was developed and we have made significant progress in implementing all of the recommendations. We will ensure these improvements are embedded and sustained into practice.

“Our services in 2017 were very different to those we have in place today. Four years ago we did not have a forensic community mental health team in Derbyshire, which was a significant gap in local service provision.

“In July 2019 a forensic community mental health team was commissioned for Derbyshire, to enhance our focus on public protection. The service aims to promote the mental, physical and social wellbeing of forensic patients and reduce the risk of re-offending to protect the public. This service continues to develop and is expanding to ensure the effective support and supervision of patients in the community.

“The responsibilities of this team include ensuring good and safe practice, including adherence to the Ministry of Justice reporting standards. We will ensure our practices are audited to confirm ongoing compliance.

“We are committed to working closely with and communicating effectively with our partner organisations. We have introduced a joint social supervision policy with both local authorities, which outlines the responsibilities of a social supervisor. We are also working together to employ forensic social workers in our forensic community mental health team and within the trust’s inpatient low secure services.

“We understand the importance of family engagement and of our services being culturally appropriate. We now have an enhanced auditing process in place to ensure that race, ethnicity, gender and religious issues are considered. We will routinely address these issues within our care plans.

“The trust is also in the process of commissioning a new electronic patient record, which includes the development of a new safety plan process, with enhanced care planning and references to ‘Think Family’ throughout. We thank family members for their involvement in this report. We appreciate this must have been very difficult and we are committed to ensuring that we learn as much as we possibly can from this tragedy, putting improvements in place to protect the public.”