Trust told it ‘lacks skills or integrity’ to carry out suicides review

A senior clinician has raised fundamental concerns about a trust’s probe into dozens of suicide cases, which was sparked by his allegations that staff had tampered with the notes of a patient.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust announced in July there would be an internal review of 60 suicide cases dating back to 2017.

But a key whistleblower told HSJ he fears it could be a “whitewash” and it should be carried by an external, independent investigator rather than led by the trust.

The suicides review was prompted by allegations staff had added a care plan into the patient record of a patient a day after the 33-year-old had died by suicide in 2017.

The allegations, not contested by the trust, were based on the findings of an internal investigation in 2021 of the trust’s conduct around the patient's case.

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Source: HSJ, 6 September 2023