Blog entered 28 May 2015

THE CORNWALL PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TRUST BOARD.

The Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is governed by a Board. As a Foundation Trust, the Board works closely with a Council of Governors. The Board is made up of five Executive Directors and six Non Executive Directors.

The Executive Directors being :

Phillip Confue – Chief Executive Officer. Sally May – Director of Finance, Performance and Information. Julie Dawson – Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Ellen Wilkinson – Medical Director. Sharon Linter – Director of Quality and Governance and Execute Nurse.

The Non-Executive Directors being :

Vicky Wood – Chair. Yvonne Stephens – Vice Chair. Gareth Jones. Neville Witham. Derek Law. Dr. Stephen Watkins.

My question to the above is this : Why did you agree to provide Cornwall Council with an NHS Trust ‘support worker’ to be a Panel member on a Welfare Priority Assessment Panel on 16 October 2012, then later state that “although he was employed by the Trust, he was not acting in an NHS capacity whilst he was a Panel member”, unquote.

That by not providing a Mental Health Representative/Mental Health Professional on the Panel in an NHS capacity the Trust abused it’s Duty of Care to all those assessed that day with mental illness, and who most likely came under the care and support umbrella of the Trust.

More specifically that my wife was awarded Low Priority that day, despite references to her long term mental health deteriorating, and the fact she died the following year. That when an NHS ‘support worker’ signed himself as the ‘Mental Health Team Representative’ that day he lied and Cornwall Council lied when it stated the NHS ‘support worker’ was a Community Psychiatric Nurse.

Cornwall Council Policy 23.2 clearly states that each Welfare Panel should include a representative from the Health Authority.