Latest news with #OperationMagenta
BBC News
03-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Gosport hospital deaths: Families 'frustrated' by slow progress
Relatives of patients who died at Gosport War Memorial Hospital have voiced their frustration at the length of time a police investigation into the deaths is 2018, an independent panel found at least 456 patients died after being given powerful opioid painkillers inappropriately between 1989 and 2000.A new criminal investigation "Operation Magenta", led by Kent Police, began in 2019. The force said officers were working as "quickly and thoroughly as possible".Linda Lacey, whose father Vernon Gregory died at the Hampshire hospital after going in for respite care, said this week: "We need to see some results, a lot of us are getting frustrated." Ms Lacey was among more than 100 relatives who attended a family forum in Fareham on Wednesday, organised by police to update relatives. Speaking afterwards, she said: "The police have got a very hard job on their hands, it is complex, but I just feel it could be moved along faster." Operation Magenta was set up in the wake of the Gosport Independent Panel, which found that there was "a culture of shortening lives" and an "institutionalised regime" of prescribing and administering "dangerous" amounts of medication that was not clinically panel found that three previous investigations by Hampshire police had "failed to get to the bottom of what happened". Robert Logan's father Robert Wilson died in 1998, aged 74, at Gosport War Memorial Hospital while recuperating from a broken shoulder. Mr Logan said he felt the progress of the investigation was "very slow" and it was sometimes "difficult to understand why". He added: "We must go along with it because it is the only investigation but, in terms of slowness, I am now almost the same age now as my father was when he died." Operation Magenta is an independent police investigation, with officers and staff drawn from across the UK, excluding Hampshire. The investigation, directed and controlled by Kent Police, is looking at more than 750 deaths between 1987 and told families previously they have identified 29 suspects. Police said 24 were suspected of alleged gross negligence manslaughter and five of alleged health and safety offences. Last year, the process of submitting case files to the Crown Prosecution Service for charging consideration began. There have been no arrests to date. Tim Wellstead said he had been seeking justice for his father Walter Wellstead for 27 years."I am nowhere near getting any idea as to when it is going to end," he said after the family forum."I have learnt nothing from today that I did not already know. It seems a waste of time for me to carry on doing it but I have got to for my dad." Deputy Chief Constable Neil Jerome, of Operation Magenta, said: "The independent investigation into deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital is one of the largest and most complex of its nature in the history of UK policing."He said the team, made up of serving and retired detectives, had so far assessed more than three million pages of documents."Family members and the general public can be confident we are working as quickly and thoroughly as possible to ensure Operation Magenta is the decisive police investigation into the deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital," he said. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
ITV News
30-04-2025
- ITV News
Gosport War Memorial Hospital: Families' frustration in latest meeting as they search for answers
ITV News Meridian's Andrew Pate has been speaking to family members at a forum, updating them on the investigation. Families who lost loved ones at Gosport War Memorial Hospital have told ITV News Meridian of their frustration at the slow pace of the police investigation. It revealed many patients, who were often elderly and vulnerable, were prescribed and given powerful painkillers in a manner that violated medical protocols and standards. Nearly thirty years after the deaths of their family members, many are still waiting for answers. For some, the pain is compounded by the fact that they are now the same age their loved ones were when they died in the hospital. Operation Magenta is one of the largest and most complex police inquiries in UK history. Led by Det Ch Con Neil Jerome, the investigation is being hailed for its thoroughness, but there is growing concern among the affected families about the pace of progress. Around 150 serving and retired police officers are working on Operation Magenta. The Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, which is managing the investigation, code-named Operation Magenta, previously said 24 suspects were being interviewed, but have now confirmed this has risen to 29. That includes 24 for alleged gross negligence manslaughter and five for alleged offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act. So far, they have assessed more than 3 million pages of documents. This includes the medical records of over 750 patients and taken witness statements from more than 1,150 individual family members. With nearly seven years having passed since the investigation's inception, many are feeling that justice is taking too long. Linda Lacey, whose father Vernon Gregory died at the hospital said: "Everything seems to be stuck, that's the only way I can describe it, really. "And I just feel very sad for a lot of people like myself getting older. I've just lost my sister a couple of weeks ago. And soon people there'll be nobody left in the family to fight for the ones that they've lost." The son of Walter Wellstead, Tim, said: "Where are we after 27 years, no idea. I've got no idea at all." Robert Logan, son of Robert Wilson, said: "Next year I shall be the same age as my father was when he died, and that's much the same for many other people in there." "We cannot provide a timeline for the completion of this inquiry," Jerome stated. "This is a complex case, and we are committed to ensuring that every individual who may have been involved in these tragic events is thoroughly investigated." The story of the Gosport War Memorial Hospital is far from over, and for those who have waited decades for answers, the fight for justice remains ongoing.
