'Appalling' inquest delays hurt families
Bereaved families have been traumatised by "distressing and appalling delays" to inquest proceedings, a landmark inquiry heard.
The Lampard Inquiry is examining the deaths of more than 2,000 mental health patients who died under NHS care in Essex between 2000 and 2023.
Fiona Murphy KC told the hearing "institutional defensiveness" by health providers was hindering inquests and preventing families from getting closure.
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) has apologised to those affected.
The public inquiry is England's first into mental health deaths, with evidence being heard in London after previous sessions in September and November.
Ms Murphy told of the "horrendous" experiences that families she represented had during their loved ones' inquests.
She said there had been an "extraordinary and shocking number of deaths" in inpatient units in Essex.
"The families' experience has been...the death of loved ones falling under the radar and of distressing and at times appalling delays," she said.
The solicitor accused EPUT of knowingly disrupting inquest proceedings by being defensive.
This included "unreasonably disputing" the relevance of an inquest, failing to provide evidence and delaying its disclosure.
Ms Murphy said: "There has also been shameful misrepresentation that lessons have been learned when they have not.
"These defensive behaviours cause real harm.
"They cause the retraumatisation of grieving families, they obstruct the truth, they obstruct lesson learning and they act as a fundamental bar and barrier to change."
Mum says son died in 'hell on Earth' facility
Ex-footballer died after discharge, inquiry told
Families mourn loved ones at Lampard Inquiry
An inquest is a legal investigation into a death which appears to be due to unknown, violent or unnatural causes.
Coroners can hold an Article 2 inquest when the person's death occurred while they were under state care.
Ms Murphy said they had the potential to deliver "real meaning" for families, as well as change.
However, she claimed a "systematic collapse of acceptable service delivery in Essex" was "undermining" this potential.
EPUT chief executive Paul Scott has apologised for deaths under his trust's care.
He said: "As the inquiry progresses, there will be many accounts of people who were much loved and missed over the past 24 years and I want to say how sorry I am for their loss."
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
What is the Lampard Inquiry and what could it change?
Mental health inquiry chair vows to 'seek out' truth
Mum says son died in 'hell on Earth' facility
The Lampard Inquiry
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
NHS spends £1.8bn a year on private firms, says GMB in call to end outsourcing
A trade union is stepping up calls to end privatisation in the NHS after its research suggested health trusts spend at least £1.8 billion a year on private companies. The GMB said requests using freedom of information laws to more than 200 trusts show they spend £1,831,105,580 annually on outsourced contracts. Almost half the trusts did not respond so the true figure could be far higher, it is claimed. A separate investigation found ambulance trusts across England spent £290 million on private ambulances during the past three years. The total annual spend has almost doubled since 2021/22, according to the data. The GMB said it wants to send a message to the Government from its annual congress in Brighton on Monday. Ambulance worker Mo Akbar will tell delegates: 'GMB members demand an end to privatisation. 'We must bring all outsourced services like cleaning, catering, and facilities back in-house. 'We demand real-terms restorative pay from the 14 years of brutal austerity. 'Workers and communities should have more say in how the NHS is run, ensuring decisions focus on patient care, not financial targets. Health outcomes are tied to poverty, housing, and working conditions, so NHS rebuilding must also address these inequalities. 'This Labour Government will have a crisis of legitimacy if they choose a path of further privatisation of the NHS, which would put at risk the sense of the collectivism that is at the heart of our health service 'We must be resolute in fighting for our National Health Service.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nurses to vote on pay deal amid concerns of industrial action
Nursing staff will start voting today on the Government's 3.6% pay deal amid warnings of another industrial dispute involving strikes. Around 345,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will be asked if the pay award is enough in what was described as the biggest single vote of the profession ever launched in the UK. Last month, the Westminster government accepted the recommendation of the Pay Review Body, giving nursing staff In England's NHS a pay rise of 3.6%. The RCN described the award as 'grotesque', saying it will see nursing staff receive a pay rise 'entirely swallowed up by inflation' – with doctors, teachers, prison officers and the armed forces all receiving a bigger increase. An identical award was made in Wales, while in Northern Ireland, the Health Minister has announced his wish to implement a 3.6% pay rise, but this is still to be agreed. The RCN said the vote will be crucial in determining the next steps, which could include a ballot for strike action. The vote will include RCN members working in the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Speaking from an international nursing conference in Helsinki and on the launch of the vote, Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary, will say: 'I'm with nurses from around the world today asking why it is our ministers in the UK who have once again put nursing at the back of the queue when it comes to pay. 'Nursing is an incredible career, but despite being the most valued profession by the public we continue to be weighted to the bottom of the NHS pay scale and are set to receive one of the lowest pay awards. 'It is time to show that nurses are valued and, from today, hundreds of thousands of nursing staff working in the NHS will give their verdict on whether 3.6% is enough.' The RCN said nursing staff in England have faced more than a decade of pay erosion since 2010/11, with pay down by a quarter in real terms. As a result, there are more than 26,000 unfilled nursing posts, while student recruitment has 'collapsed' and the numbers quitting is 'skyrocketing', said the RCN. Professor Ranger will add: 'Over a decade of pay erosion has had a devastating impact on our profession, forcing increasing numbers into quitting while putting off the nurses of the future. 'When our members vote, they won't just be voting on the fairness of the award for themselves, but if it's enough to turn our profession around.' NHS workers including nurses staged a series of strikes under the previous Conservative government in bitter disputes over pay.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
NHS calls for a million blood donors as stocks run low
The NHS needs one million regular blood donors to maintain its blood supply, officials have said. Low blood stocks prompted officials to issue an 'amber alert' over supply for hospitals last year and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) said that more must be done to avoid a 'red alert', which means that blood supply is so low that there is a threat to public safety. Officials described the last year as 'challenging' for blood stocks, highlighting how just 2% of the population keep the nation's blood stocks afloat. This means just under 800,000 people sustained the whole of England's blood supply over the past 12 months and NHSBT said one million donors are needed to meet demand. NHSBT said that there has been a rise in the number of people who registered to be donors in the last year, but only 24% of these have gone on to donate. The amber alert was triggered in July 2024 after a cyber attack on London hospitals. And blood stocks have remained low ever since, officials said. It said there is a 'critical' need for more donors who have the so-called universal blood type – O negative blood – which is needed for treatment in emergencies. There is also a need for more black donors, who are more likely to have specific blood types which can help treat people with sickle cell disease. O negative is the only blood type that can be used in emergencies when there's no time to check a patient's type. But right now, stocks are running low. Please book now and help us continue providing lifesaving blood to patients in need. ➡️ — Give Blood NHS 🩸🩹 (@GiveBloodNHS) May 23, 2025 NHSBT chief executive Dr Jo Farrar said: 'There are many thousands of people who donate regularly and help us keep patients alive. Thank you. You are amazing. You keep the NHS going and save and transform thousands of lives a year. 'Our stocks over the past 12 months have been challenging. If we had a million regular donors, this would help keep our stocks healthy – you'd truly be one in a million. 'Please book an appointment today, experience how good it feels to save lives, and come and do it again in a few months.' Two thirds of the blood collected is used to treat people who rely on blood transfusions including people with cancer and those with blood conditions. One family is backing the campaign for more donors due to their own experience receiving regular blood transfusions. Four-year-old Isaac Balmer, from Hull, was born with hereditary spherocytosis – a genetic blood condition which causes red blood cells to break down faster than normal, leading to severe anaemia and other complications. He receives blood transfusions every 12 weeks. His mother Jasmin Suggit, a newborn hearing scanner at the hospital where Isaac receives his treatment, said: 'It's been a rollercoaster; Isaac's haemoglobin levels fluctuate, and when they drop significantly, he becomes lethargic and jaundiced. 'But when he receives his transfusion, you see the colour return to his cheeks, and his energy levels soar before our eyes. It is incredible. 'During his transfusions, he refers to donor blood as 'Hulk blood' and imagines himself becoming stronger and healthier, but this wouldn't be possible without the real life, everyday superheroes who keep Isaac and others like him alive, thanks to their regular blood donations.' Health Minister Baroness Merron said: 'The NHS is in urgent need of more lifesaving blood donors from all backgrounds. We are working alongside NHS Blood and Transplant to make donating blood easier than ever before, opening up new donor centres and making appointments available closer to home.'
