The leader said Britain’s largest-ever mental health study could never release valuable findings after just 11 out of 14,000 NHS workers said they would testify in person.
Dr Geraldine Strathdee said her study, covering more than 2,000 deaths in Essex psychiatric hospitals over a 20-year period, was completely undermined by the lack of input from current and former employees.
In an open letter, D. Strathdy said she “heard wonderful and sobering testimonies from many families who have tragically lost loved ones and from people who have themselves sought inpatient mental health treatment.”
She added: “Your testimony has been extremely valuable to the work of the investigation, and I know that providing this evidence is sometimes costly.”
The next step in the investigation, she said, is to talk to current and former employees whose evidence is “fundamental” to the investigation so it can “properly investigate deaths of the mentally ill.”
“However, the response rate has been extremely disappointing,” she wrote. “We have received a small number of employee written statements from over 14,000 contacted employees, and to date only 11 have indicated that they will attend the hearing.
“Whenever we wrote directly to some of the people involved in the cases of deceased patients that we are investigating, one in four replied that they would provide evidence.”
Dr. Strathdee told Health Secretary Steve Barclay in a meeting on Tuesday that Essex’s independent mental health inquiry, not mandated by law, was “inadequate” and unable to do its job, including making recommendations to improve mental health. .
The move gives activists hope that the government will redefine the investigation as a legitimate public inquiry and give it the power to force people to speak up and give sworn statements.
Last year dr. Strathdee urged more people to come forward and testify about the death of 1,500 patients, but this was not heard. In her letter, she said that the Essex University Partners Foundation (EPUT) has now informed the study of any additional patient deaths, bringing the figure “closer to 2,000”.
Dr. Strathdee said: “This is a significant increase in the number of people who have died due to the mentally ill and the number of families who have gone through this grief. I am concerned that two years have passed since this investigation was announced and the Trust should be notified of the deaths of these people.
“My investigation will now begin writing to these families and offering to meet with anyone willing to provide evidence for the investigation.”
EPUT was formed in April 2017 from the merger of the North Essex Partner University NHS Foundation and the South Essex University Partnership NHS Foundation. All deaths occurred between 2000 and 2020 while patients were in Essex Psychiatric Facility or within three months of discharge.
The investigation was announced by Nadine Dorris in 2020, when she was Minister of Health, following a series of deaths at the NHS mental health unit. Dozens of affected families refused to cooperate with the investigation due to their current status.
DR Strathdee said: “Any decision on the status of the investigation will be made by the government. I am sure that my request will be taken seriously. I will inform my witnesses as soon as I can.
“These problems will cause some delays in the work on the study, which means that we will not publish it in the spring of 2023. I will provide an updated schedule as soon as possible. The investigation work is ongoing while we await further progress. I remain committed to getting answers for families and patients as soon as possible.”
Melanie Leahy, whose son Matthew was found hanged at Linden Center in Chelmsford in 2012, just a week after he was hospitalized under the Mental Health Act, said: I: “I warned that it would be so, but was ignored. The powers of a statutory public inquiry prevent this by compelling selected witnesses to testify.
“All these years there was no real accountability and there was a very backward system and no one wanted to do anything about it, and so we lost our children and our loved ones in completely preventable deaths – 2,000 lives. Why did it take 10 years?
“Give us our legal research. Give us something to celebrate. I want to be able to let Essex know that your loved ones are safe when they use Essex Mental Health Services.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Welfare said: “Any death in a psychiatric institution is a tragedy. We are committed to improving mental health across the country, which is why we started a study to look at mental illness deaths in Essex between 2000 and 2020.
“We would like to thank everyone who took part, which greatly helped the work of the study. We strongly believe in the importance of transparency and accountability to learn from the past and improve patient safety. It is disappointing that current and former employees were not engaged to the extent expected and that the investigation was not given access to all the information requested.
“The progress of the Essex Independent Mental Health Study will be closely scrutinized pending any possible next steps.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.