Judge to examine trust’s care failings

Government has named a chair for its public inquiry into care and governance failings at a mental health trust – nine months after the probe was promised. 

Judge John Potter is to lead the inquiry into Tees, Esk and Wear Valley Foundation Trust, which will examine the deaths of teenagers Christine Harnett, Nadia Shariff, and Emily Moore, who died by suicide while in the trust’s care, in 2019 and 2020.

He is a retired circuit judge and former deputy judge of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, with over 40 years of experience in public service, judicial leadership, and the administration of justice.

He said his first priority would be to meet and “listen to those affected”, who would be “central to the inquiry’s work” and terms of reference.

Its formal start date will be Monday.

Lawyers and the families have called for the inquiry’s scope to include all sites run by the trust, not just West Lane Hospital, where two of the teenagers died.

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Source: HSJ, 18 September 2026