CEO admits underestimating requirements of deaths inquiry

A trust has been slow to provide records to an inquiry examining more than 2,000 deaths, because it underestimated the resources needed, its former CEO has admitted.

Paul Scott, who left Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust last month, said the trust “underestimated at the outset the scale and complexity of what would be required of it” as the main NHS trust respondent to the Lampard Inquiry.

Baroness Kate Lampard is investigating more than 2,000 mental health deaths in Essex between 2000 and 2023, with her inquiry due to report in 2028.

In a statement read to the inquiry on Monday afternoon, Mr Scott said: “That underestimation was not in bad faith, but rather an error of planning and resourcing in not appreciating the wide focus which would be put on the delivery of services by it and predecessor trusts.

“This had real consequences: it generated delay, eroded the inquiry’s confidence, and [in some cases] directly affected bereaved families.”

The problems included a failure to quickly forward 30 “next of kin” letters provided by the inquiry in February. EPUT said it was trying to validate families’ addresses, but has apologised for the unacceptable delay.

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Source: HSJ, 6 July 2026