"Our sons died – we want mental health inquiry to bring change"

For mothers Melanie Leahy and Lisa Morris, the long wait for a full public inquiry into the deaths of mental health patients in Essex is finally over.

Today Baroness Lampard will open fresh proceedings examining the deaths of inpatients under the care of successive NHS trusts over 23 years. The findings could have implications for mental healthcare nationally.

The Lampard Inquiry has got under way, examining deaths at NHS-run children and adult inpatient units in Essex between 2000 and 2023.

Baroness Lampard, who is leading proceedings, said the inquiry was "of the gravest concern and significance".

She warned the number of deaths was expected to be "significantly in excess" of the 2,000 figure previously reported.

Among those who have lost their lives is Ms Leahy's son, Matthew, who was found unresponsive at a unit now operated by Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT) in 2012.

When asked what she wants from the inquiry, her answer is simple - "no more deaths".

Twenty-year-old Matthew had been taken to the Linden Centre in Chelmsford after being detained under the Mental Health Act.

He had been under the care of the Early Intervention in Psychosis team operated by one of EPUT's predecessor organisations, the North Essex Partnership NHS Trust (NEP).

Days before his death he reported he had been raped while in the unit, but following a visit the police took no further action.

But staff did not follow the trust's own policy following the allegations and it emerged his care plan had been falsified. It was written after his death.

His mother says she wants the inquiry to use its enhanced powers to obtain documents that she has still not seen.

"There's things like internal investigations, internal statements. I've never read them. There are documents that I've never been privy to and they need to be produced now," she says.

"It's been a battle to get this far."

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Source: BBC News, 8 September 2024