An NHS mental health trust plans to cut a wide range of its services and axe hundreds of jobs to close a £25m hole in its finances. Richard Munn, the national officer for health at the trade union Unite, said: “To see cuts to any mental health service is unfathomable and unacceptable. Cutting mental health services will lead to exponentially greater costs to the public purse and lead to lives being destroyed. ELFT provides mental health care in the east London boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham, and in Luton and Bedford in Bedfordshire. Begum asked if the trust had undertaken a risk assessment of its plans, given the likely impact on “public health, public safety and health equalities”.