Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust staff discharged Valdo Calocane, the man who killed three people, because they could not locate him for treatment. This critical failure in patient management, disclosed during a public inquiry, occurred months before the fatal attacks on June 13, 2023.
The inquiry revealed that healthcare workers attempted to reach Calocane through various means—visiting his address, making calls, and sending letters—all without a response. Despite being under the trust's care for two years and having been sectioned four times, Calocane was released when staff could no longer establish contact. One team leader stated it was "not uncommon" to discharge patients who were not engaging with services.==
The findings come amid ongoing scrutiny of mental health services, with specific criticisms leveled against record-keeping practices. A mental health nurse admitted at the inquiry that her notes were at times inaccurate, lacking detail, and even copied and pasted. Another practitioner indicated that certain messages, which might have influenced risk assessments, were not seen.
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Calocane, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, had been warned by a consultant psychiatrist that he was on a path that would lead to someone's death. His family members have also been present at the inquiry, with legal representatives questioning his capacity to consent to information sharing with them, even during periods of psychosis.
Previously, an independent mental health homicide report published in February 2025 highlighted a "catalogue of care failings" in Calocane's treatment. This report identified that the "offer of care and treatment available for VC was not always sufficient to meet his needs," a situation described as not unique to his case. Efforts to place Calocane on antipsychotic depot medication, a longer-acting form requiring less frequent administration, were reportedly made due to his inconsistent oral medication intake, but these did not fully materialize. His father, a doctor himself, expressed a desire to hold individual doctors responsible, citing knowledge of Calocane's violent tendencies.
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The inquiries and reports follow a special review by the Care Quality Commission into mental health services at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which also pointed to clear deficiencies in Calocane's care and treatment.
