WE do not underestimate the challenges facing those involved in the care of mentally ill patients. As with all aspects of health care, successful treatments in mental health go largely unseen while failings are placed in the spotlight.

Nevertheless, the report by independent investigators into the care of double murderer James Allen makes disturbing reading.

Allen was a known serial offender who had repeatedly reported his own fears of a relapse in the state of his mental health. Despite the patient himself clearly sounding the alarm, investigators found no evidence of a plan to manage his condition, and no mental health agency contacted the police or probation service to check his criminal record.

There was no real analysis of the risk posed to society by Allen and he went on to murder Colin Dunford, 81, from Middlesbrough, and Julie Davidson, 50, from Whitby.

We will never know whether those deaths would have been prevented if more stringent checks had been put in place. But it is fair to conclude that the chances would have been reduced with better communication and planning.

If there is anything positive to be found in this tragic case, it is the fact that we have a system in place in the National Health Service to ensure that serious shortcomings are independently investigated and the findings published.

We question why it has taken three years to complete the investigation but at least we now know what went wrong in the care of James Allen and what needs to be done to guard against similar failings in the future.

No system can ever be foolproof but it is only by making inquiries into failings fully transparent that we can learn how to minimise the risks.