Nottingham attack families ask Streeting for names of staff who treated killer
The families of the Nottingham attack victims said they have told the Health Secretary they want the names of all staff involved in treating killer Valdo Calocane to be made public.
A February report into the care received by Calocane detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also went on to commit 'extremely serious' acts of violence.
The relatives of 19-year-old students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, met with the Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday (9 June) and asked for those responsible to be held accountable.
After the meeting, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Grace's father, said: 'It was the actions of a few people that put a dangerous man out in the community'.
Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed three people and attempted to kill three more in Nottingham in June 2023.
He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024, after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder.
Calocane was admitted to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times between 2020 and 2022 because of his violent behaviour and refusal to take his medication, before NHS services lost track of him and discharged him in the months before the attacks.
Three reports, including one by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), described failings in his care but none included practitioners' names, Dr Kumar said with copies of the documents in-hand.
Speaking outside the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), he told reporters: 'We'd like to know who was involved in the care of this person who committed all this harm. Why aren't there any names?
'He was sectioned four times – was it four different consultants? Was it one consultant? Who were the teams who didn't do their jobs?"
He said, 'I think we deserve to know the details – everyone in the country who has suffered the way we have through mental health-related homicide deserves to have the details.
'When an operation goes wrong, someone gets named.'
Dr Kumar added: 'We want people to just know, if they did wrong, what is it they need to do to be put right? Whether it's retraining, whether it's… doing the professional development again.
'The point is that you just can't have people who are providing a risky service even now.'
He added that the Health Secretary was 'very much on our side, he very much wants to see a way through' and that Mr Streeting has promised 'he's going to work hard at it'.
Prior to the meeting, the families said in a statement that their correspondence with the mental health trust's chief executive, Ifti Majid, had been 'light on detail, vague, evasive, defensive and contradictory'.
They added that he failed to answer Dr Kumar's questions.
Dr Kumar said he has given Mr Streeting the questions he put to the chief executive.
He said the Health Secretary 'has promised to do his best to get us all the answers', adding that he has confidence in Mr Streeting because he has 'taken a personal interest in this case' and likewise 'wants to end homicide by mental health'.
Their meeting also follows a complaint lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) by the families regarding an 'offensive' encounter with one of the watchdog's regional directors.
A DHSC spokesperson said: 'Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England have accepted all the recommendations made in both the CQC and NHS England-commissioned reviews into the care and treatment received by Valdo Calocane.
'The Health and Social Care Secretary has called for recommendations from both reviews to be implemented as soon as possible and met with the bereaved families today to discuss the NHS England-commissioned Independent Homicide Review.
'As part of this work, NHS England has developed and is actively implementing evidence-based national guidance, so that all trusts are clear on the standards of care expected for patients with serious mental illnesses.
'We remain committed to delivering the fundamental changes needed to mental health services to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.'
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