NPSA 
4-8 Maple Street 
London 
W1T 5HD 
21 December 2009 
Tel: 020 7927 9500 
Fax: 020 7927 9501 
[NPSA request email] 
www.npsa.nhs.uk
Ms Dee Speers 
[FOI #17914 email]
 
 
Dear Miss Speers, 
 
Freedom of Information Act request:  Mental Health services 
 
I am writing in response to your email request for information under the FOI Act, dated 
12 December 2009 received by the NPSA FOI team on 14 December 2009.  Thank you for your 
enquiry. 
 
This is to confirm that the National Patient Safety Agency is working with the National Confidential 
Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide (NCISH) to produce a checklist for all NHS Trusts to use to ensure 
that the learning from inquiries about mental health services are implemented across the range of 
mental health providers.  I can confirm that the checklist is currently out for consultation and is due to 
be released next year. 
 
You referred to the NPSA Chairman, in relation to patient safety issues across mental health services, 
in your correspondence.  This is just to confirm that Lord Naren Patel is the Chairman of the National 
Patient Safety Agency but he is not the Chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission that role is 
held by Lord Patel of Bradford, OBE. 
 
I hope that this information is helpful to you, please let me know if you require further clarification. 
 
If you are unhappy about the way in which your request has been handled, the NPSA has an internal 
complaints procedure through which you can raise any concerns.  Further details of this procedure 
may be obtained by contacting the Complaints Manager.  If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of 
the complaints procedure, you can apply to the Information Commission, who will consider whether we 
as a public authority have complied with its obligations under the Act, and can require NPSA to 
remedy any problems.  You can find out more about how to do this, and about the Act in general, on 
their website www.ico.gov.uk.  Complaints should be sent to: 
 
FOI Complaints Resolution - Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, 
Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For and on behalf of Sarndrah Horsfall 
Chief Executive (Acting) 

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