Inquiry examining thousands of deaths will not report until 2028

A high-profile inquiry into mental health deaths will not be complete until at least 2028, after its chair announced a delay to its timeline.

The Lampard inquiry, set up to examine at least 2,000 deaths over a 23-year period, was made statutory in 2023. Closing hearings had originally been expected to take place, with recommendations issued in 2027.

However, chair Baroness Kate Lampard today announced final hearings will now take place in June 2027, with findings pushed back to 2028.

In a statement, she said hearings planned for April would be “vacated… to permit sufficient time to undertake [the inquiry’s] investigative work and collate related evidence”.

Baroness Lampard said the inquiry had experienced delays to obtaining witness statements and documents, particularly from the main provider, Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust. The FT was a “clinical service with competing priorities”, she said.

The delays in receiving information had “impacted the ability of the inquiry to progress investigations and other work as quickly as I would like”.

Recent statements from lawyers for families involved have also accused the inquiry of being “inexcusably silent” on its timetable and being at risk of failing in its duties.

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Source: HSJ, 28 January 2026