NHS trust who cared for Nottingham attacker admits mistakes could be repeated

"There are no cast-iron guarantees this can't happen again"

The NHS trust facing criticism for its treatment of the man behind the Nottingham attacks says it can't guarantee that a similar incident won't happen again.

Senior trust leaders at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation trust told a meeting at the County Council's health committee they were learning from past errors and apologised for mistakes that were made.

Jan Sensier, Executive Director of Partnerships and Strategy at the trust said "there are no cast-iron guarantees that this can't happen again but mistakes were made and we are working to rectify these."

Valdo Calocane killed three people, students Barnaby Webber, Grace O' Malley-Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates after stabbing them to death in Nottingham on 13 June 2023.

Victims of Nottingham attacks, Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar

He also seriously injured three other people after driving into them with a van in the early hours of the morning.

Calocane was under the care of the trust whilst being treated for paranoid schizophrenia between May 2020 and September 2022.

He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January, after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said they are "doing everything possible" to minimise the risk of a similar incident and are working to tackle the "systematic failures" that caused the attacks to happen.

The trust also says work is being done on how patients are discharged, particularly those in communities with a similar profile to Calocane.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report released in August found that the killer’s risk was “not managed well” and that concerns raised by the killer's family were "not consistently acted on".

It also found that the risk assessments did not "make explicit the serious nature" that Calocane posed.

The trust's Chief Executive Ifti Majid said he understands there was "missed opportunities" but that recommendations from the watchdog have been added into the integrated improvement plan and are being addressed.

The watchdog has suggested that the trust should

  • regularly review treatment plans for paranoid schizophrenics

  • ensure staff engage with patients’ families

  • have a robust discharge policy

  • and have clinical supervisions of decisions to detain people under the Mental Health Act.

The commission is carrying out regular small scale visits to check the trust's progress and offer feedback.

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