NHS trust 'threatened to confiscate patient's phone' if they complained

An NHS trust that is under review by the CQC has been accused of threatening to confiscate a patient's mobile phone if they complained.

(c) William Hook/Unsplash

(c) William Hook/Unsplash

During a city council health scrutiny meeting on 16 May, Cllr Georgia Power said she had learnt a patient at Highbury Hospital was asked by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in 2022 to sign a document saying they would not contact feedback platform Care Opinion or the CQC. Cllr Power said staff threatened to confiscate the patient's phone if they refused.

The CQC was commissioned by the secretary of state for health and social care to carry out a special review of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust following the conviction of Valdo Calocane in January 2024 for the murder of Ian Coates, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber.

Calocane had been cared for by the trust's mental health services before carrying out his attack on 13 June 2023.

The CQC published an assessment of patient safety and quality of care and progress made at the trust's Rampton Hospital in March.

It's assessment of the trust's care of Calocane is due this summer.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare's executive medical director and deputy chief executive, Dr Sue Elcock, said: ‘We are committed to providing high quality, safe care and we know that feedback from patients, their families and carers is important to ensuring that our care meets these expectations. We know we have more to do, and we have a comprehensive plan to improve the way that we listen to, and involve, the people who use our services. We are looking into the case raised by Cllr Power.'

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