Families Urge NHS England to Release Full Report on Nottingham Triple Homicide
NHS England faces criticism for withholding the full mental health report on Valdo Calocane, citing data protection laws.
NHS England is under pressure from the families of Valdo Calocane’s victims to publish in full an independent mental health homicide report detailing his care before the Nottingham stabbings in June 2023. Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after being found guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility for the deaths of 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates.
A summary of the report is set to be released later this week, but NHS England has stated that patient confidentiality and data protection laws prevent full disclosure.
Only Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which was responsible for Calocane’s care, will have access to the complete report.
Radd Seiger, an adviser representing the victims’ families, has called for transparency, stating, 'The families have already reached out to NHS England to strongly urge them to publish the findings in full.
They believe it is very much in the public interest and in the interests of safety to do so.'
An NHS England spokesperson responded, 'Independent mental health homicide reports are commissioned by NHS England and published in line with the requirements of confidentiality and data protection legislation relating to patient information.'
A separate review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found multiple errors in the management of Calocane’s mental health care by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
The review highlighted concerns over the assessment of his risks to the public and failures in his treatment plan.
The CQC's findings have intensified scrutiny of the trust’s handling of Calocane’s case, with renewed calls for improvements in mental health care systems to prevent similar incidents.