West Lane Hospital Government called for inquiry
The government has yet to confirm whether it will launch a public inquiry into a health trust after a damning report described a “deteriorating spiral of poor care” after the deaths of three girls.
An investigation into concerns around the mental health provision at West Lane Hospital, Middlesbrough, described the staff response to self-harm as “negative and punitive”, while some patients were dragged along the floor in an “excessive and inappropriate” form of restraint.
Leadership at the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust (TEWV), which managed the hospital, was described as “chaos” before it closed in 2019.
But this was not until after the tragic deaths of Christie Harnett and Nadia Sharif. A third teenager, Emily Moore, died at Lanchester Road Hopsital in Durham, also managed by TEWV, after previously attending West Lane.
The CQC announced in February that they will be bringing criminal charges against TEWV in relation to the deaths of Christie Harnett, 17, Emily Moore, 18, and a third person who died just 18 months after Christie.
It followed the publication of three, three damning independent investigation reports in November into the deaths of Christie Harnett, Emily Moore and their friend Nadia Sharif, 17, which uncovered 119 “multifaceted and systemic” failings in West Lane including lack of leadership, issues with succession and crisis management, and weak internal and external systems of safeguarding governance.
The families of Christie, Nadia and Emily are all calling for a public inquiry into the trust.
Responding to the report, minister for mental health Maria Caulfield said: “Every death in a mental health facility is a tragedy and my sympathies are with the families and loved ones of Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore.
“I am grateful to all the families and patients who have contributed to this report. It is vitally important we learn from failures and improve care across the NHS to protect patients in the future.
“We are undertaking a rapid review, focusing on the data and evidence currently available to healthcare services and how we can use this more effectively to identify patient safety risks and failures in care.
“With regard to holding a public inquiry, we are considering what the right approach should be at this stage. The rapid review does not prevent any future inquiries.”