Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust boss ‘absolutely committed’ to cooperating with Nottingham attacks inquiry

The boss of a troubled NHS trust says the organisation will be committed to cooperating with a public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks.

He said he believes patients and the public “are safer today due to the changes we have made”.

On February 12, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a judge-led public inquiry – into the June 2023 attacks – would begin “in a matter of weeks”.

Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65, were fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane during the incident on June 13.

Their families had called for a statutory inquiry so the relevant authorities and witnesses could answer questions about their decisions and actions.

Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to a hospital order in January 2024, having pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.

The inquiry will follow three separate reports looking into Calocane’s treatment and care, including Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s own independently-chaired review, an independent mental health homicide review, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) review.

The most recent homicide review, which looked into the NHS treatment given to Calocane prior to the killings and was published on February 5, found “a catalogue of failings”.

During a trust board meeting at Highbury Hospital on Thursday (March 27), chief executive Ifti Majid said the organisation had made a number of changes ahead of the inquiry.

“The publication of the independent homicide review is a tragic reminder of the horrific events in June of 2023, and our thoughts continue to be with the families of those who died, Ian, Grace and Barnaby,” he said.

“We extended our deepest condolences to friends of families of Valdo Calocane’s victims. No-one should have to go through what they have suffered and we offered our heartfelt apologies to them to the opportunities we missed during the care and treatment of Valdo Calocane.

“Shortly after the publication the Prime Minister announced a public inquiry would take place, adding it would involve a number of different agencies and that it would start in a matter of weeks.

“We still await further information regarding the scope and the nature of this inquiry, but we are absolutely committed to co-operating fully with the process.”

Mr Majid said the trust developed an improvement plan following the incident in June 2023, which includes introducing more staffing, a “more robust discharge process” that must involve a face-to-face meeting, and changes to risk assessments.

“The plan involves making improvement to trust policy, process and training,” he added.

“We are making good progress. I believe our patients and the public are safer today due to the changes we have made to our discharge and management processes, and the work that we are doing to listen and engage better with patients, families and local partners.

“Our risk assessment and risk management training has been strengthened and this is leading to better documentation and greater emphasis on the risk that people who use our services may pose to others and themselves.”

Mr Majid made a personal commitment to give a further public update on the progress before the summer.

According to trust board papers, there are 490 risks on the risk register, with 52 rated as significant risks, and six “extreme” risks.

These relate to admission, access to services, security environments, and finance.

All have improvement actions related to them, and board members approved a refreshed improvement plan in the meeting.

A rating for the trust remains outstanding amid ongoing reviews into its services.

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for further details about the pending inquiry.