- Written by Matt Preecy
- BBC News, Essex
image source, Getty Images
Baroness Lampard said she was ‘disappointed’ to have not heard from the Health Secretary.
A public inquiry into the death of a mental health patient in Essex cannot be launched due to government delays, the commissioner said.
Baroness Kate Lampard said she was disappointed that the terms of reference had not yet been agreed by the Health Secretary.
She started work in November and has yet to hear evidence.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said her proposals were being considered.
The Essex Mental Health Independent Review Authority has faced challenges since it began operating under former chair Dr Geraldine Strathdee in 2021.
She resigned last year for “personal reasons” after complaining that too few former mental health staff were involved in the investigation.
The new chair, Baroness Lampard, said she had written to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins in December 2023 setting out the proposed scope of the review.
On the contact site, “On 27 February 2024, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care requesting an update on the terms of reference. The inquiry is currently awaiting a response to this letter.”
“We are disappointed that we are unable to begin the investigation process as we have not yet received the final terms of reference.”
Reference term “under consideration”
This is the first public inquiry into mental health deaths to focus on Essex Partnership Universities NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) and its predecessor organisations.
Dr Strathdee previously said that between 2000 and 2020, around 2,000 people were confirmed to have died while in Essex mental health units or within three months of being discharged.
However, EPUT chief executive Paul Scott disputed this figure.
A DHSC spokesperson said: “We would like to express our deepest sympathies to the bereaved family in this case.
“We take investigations into these tragic incidents very seriously. Baroness Lampard has initiated a consultation on the terms of reference, which is currently under consideration.”
“Ministers are consulting with Essex MPs and will meet with family representative groups to discuss this issue further before the Easter recess.”
