The Northern Echo is calling for progress on a stalled public inquiry into the region's scandal-hit mental health trust.
Grieving families say the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Trust is still failing patients years after the deaths of their loved ones.
A public inquiry was announced by then-Health Secretary Wes Streeting in December, but months later a chair is yet to be appointed.
On Monday (July 20), this paper called on new PM Andy Burnham to commit to six key priorities to "deliver for the North East", including pushing the probe forward.
We now want Mr Burnham and new Health Secretary Yvette Cooper to ensure the promised inquiry is not allowed to stall further.
TEWV has been under intense scrutiny for years over its management of cases, including the deaths of three teenage girls Christie Harnett, 17, Nadia Sharif, 17, and Emily Moore, 18, in 2019 and 2020.
For families like Emily’s, the wait has come on top of a six-year wait for answers about her death at an inquest.
Last week a jury at Crook Coroners’ Court concluded that a series of care failings by TEWV contributed to Emily’s death at Lanchester Road Hospital.
Her father David Moore, 57, said getting the inquiry underway will prevent other families from suffering.
He said: “It is paramount that a chair is elected as soon as possible as there are still too many patients still finding the care they receive so substandard from TEWV.
“Some won’t even recognise them as a mental healthcare provider because they are so traumatised.
“This trust needs urgent attention and hearing the truth come out finally in the last four weeks could have been dealt with years ago and may have saved lives.
“We are still waiting for an apology from the trust for all they denied in the past which won’t bring back Emily, but if the new Prime Minister and new Health Secretary get this started, then others may not have to suffer like us and a lot of other families sadly have.”
Alistair Smith, senior solicitor at Ison Harrison representing dozens of families, said previously: “There was a clear sense of momentum at the end of last year.
"Families were given a firm commitment that a statutory public inquiry would take place and that the Trust would be held to account for what can only be described as monumental failings, yet that optimism has been replaced by profound disappointment.
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"The preliminary stages should have been a straightforward step toward transparency, yet we are seeing the same pattern of delay that has characterised the Trust’s history.
"The Government promised these families the truth in a forum as robust as the Post Office inquiry, but you cannot find the truth without a chair to lead the search".
In total 119 errors were found in the care of Emily, Christie Harnett, 17, and Nadia Sharif, 17, between June 2019 and February 2020.
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