Grieving families who have spent years calling for a public inquiry into a scandal-hit mental health trust will finally get a decision next month.
Loved ones of patients who died under the care of the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Trust told the Health Secretary they believe more patients will die if he fails to order the probe during an emotional meeting in London.
Wes Streeting told families today (Thursday, February 13) they had delivered a “strong case” for an inquiry and “given [him] a lot to think about”, the Echo understands. He will decide by the end of March.
The meeting came on what would have been Christie Harnett’s birthday had TEWV not failed to assess her risk of self-harm. She died aged 17 at its later shut-down West Lane Hospital in June 2019. The trust was prosecuted and fined in court over her death.
Wes Streeting said: “I’d like to thank the families who gave up their time to meet with me today and for sharing their harrowing experiences, not only of losing loved ones but also encountering significant failings of care.
“Anyone receiving mental health care deserves safe, high-quality care and to be treated with dignity and respect. The care their loved ones received fell well short of that mark, with tragic consequences.
“I want to see Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Trust act now on existing reports and findings, to prevent more lives being lost in the future. I am taking the issues raised and the case for a public inquiry extremely seriously and I have committed to come back to the families on the next steps."
The families of Christie, Viktor Scott-Brown, 23, Beth Cunningham, 21, and Jay Jones, 23, sat around the table with Mr Streeting with 20 more families tuning in from Middlesbrough. The emotional meeting, scheduled for 45 minutes, lasted almost two hours.
It was five years to the day since Emily Moore attempted to take her own life at Lanchester Road Hospital in Durham. Two days later she was taken off life support. The trust was cleared of unsafe care after a trial last Spring but her family continue to fight for answers.
Her dad David, who joined the meeting from Middlesbrough said: “There was a lot of emotions in there, a lot of people trying to get their points across. I think it went well and hopefully, it’ll lead to something whether it’s a public inquiry or not. All we want as a group is better mental health and justice for our loved ones.
“It went much better than our previous meeting with Maria Caulfield (former Conservative Health Minister). There were a lot more questions from Wes Streeting. Nothing happened and it was coming to the end of the Conservative government. It was totally different. Let’s hope this is a new beginning and we get what is rightly deserved.”
Casey Tremain, Christie’s gran, watched as her daughter Charlotte and son-in-law Michael told their daughter’s tragic story.
She told the Echo: “He seemed to really listen and take on board and then quoted back our concerns and I am more hopeful with him that we’ll get our public inquiry.
“We didn’t expect a yes or no today because that’s the way of Government. They have to take their time and review everything.
“I was sat there dabbing my eyes. It’s an emotional day for Christie’s birthday and Emily’s incident happened today, but that seemed to spur us all on. We were doing it for Christie.”
A report found 119 failings in Christie, Emily and Nadia Sharif's care after the three teenage girls all died between June 2019 and February 2020.
Nick Scott made the journey from Annfield Plain to tell the Health Secretary how his son Viktor died aged 23 in 2018 after TEWV failed to warn him or his family of the dangers of a new drug he was prescribed. His death could have been avoided, a 2020 inquest ruled.
“I wasn’t prepared for the emotion of the other families (telling their stories) and it was difficult in front of an audience but I certainly got Viktor’s story across and outlined TEWV’s failings,” Mr Scott said.
“He gave us much more time than we anticipated which felt like a really good sign and took lots of notes. He was engaged and asked questions and volunteered some of his own frustrations.”
Cheryl Allan told Mr Streeting how failings in her son Ty Channce’s care contributed to his death aged 20 in 2021. He was found dead having been allowed out of hospital for the first time in nine months.
Speaking after the meeting Cheryl said: “It was really hard sharing Ty’s story. I did it for him and I’ll continue to fight for him.
“It’s hard because you relive it, you relive it all, the grief included, and hope for some sort of closure.”
Lawyer for the families Alistair Smith said: “It felt like a productive and positive meeting. He listened and engaged with the families and spent much more time with us than we originally thought.
“He said the families put forward a strong case for a statutory public inquiry and he would come back before the end of March with a decision.”
A TEWV spokesperson said the trust would “co-operate fully as required with openness and transparency” with any inquiry.
They added: “Our deepest sympathies remain with the families who have lost loved ones. Their pain is unimaginable.
Read next:
- Boss of scandal-hit NHS trust fined after patients died bags new job and £50k payrise
- Timeline shows string of tragedy and scandal at troubled mental health trust
- Patients reported concerns for safety at TEWV mental health trust
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“We understand the government is considering its position on a public inquiry. As an NHS Trust, we have no role or influence on public inquiries. These are a matter for the government. We fully accept the need for accountability and that comes in many forms, including inspections from our regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and scrutiny and oversight from NHS England and the two integrated care boards in the healthcare system.
“Since we embarked on our improvement journey a significant amount of work has taken place to ensure we deliver high quality care. This was reflected in our most recent CQC trust-wide inspection which recognised an improved culture, kind and caring staff, and a more open and transparent Trust.
“We have made substantial progress while acknowledging there is more to do. These changes are starting to have a positive impact, and we remain 100% committed to transforming our services and improving people’s experiences of our Trust.”
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