Inquiry exaggerated trust death toll, claims CEO

A trust chief executive has suggested an inquiry team looking at 2,000 deaths is lacking in “expertise” and has created a “disproportionate impression” of the problems at his trust.

Essex Partnership University Trust is at the centre of a high-profile inquiry into the deaths of patients over a 20-year period, which was sparked after serious concerns were raised over specific cases.

The inquiry, led by Geraldine Strathdee, a former national clinical director for mental health, is reviewing the cases of 2,000 people who died while they were patients on a mental health ward in Essex or within three months of being discharged.

In a letter to the inquiry, obtained by HSJ through a freedom of information request, trust chief executive officer Paul Scott wrote: “The headline number of c.1,500 or c.2,000 deaths used in publicity by the inquiry is, in my opinion, not a fair reflection of the deaths that would be of interest to the inquiry.”

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Source: HSJ, 1 March 2023