On Tuesday 10 September INQUEST delivered its opening statement at the Lampard Inquiry. It expressed its “horror “that “despite countless investigations, inspection reports and inquests… preventable deaths have continued.”
Referencing the former health minister, Nadine Dorries’ response to early calls for a public inquiry into mental health deaths in Essex, Lily Lewis said on behalf of INQUEST that “the extent of the problem was not only being downplayed by those within the heart of government but it appears that the calls for a public inquiry were being actively resisted by those at the top of the Department for Health and Social Care.” She went on to describe recently published Whatsapp messages between Ms Dorries and then health secretary Matt Hancock as “the latest in a pattern of defence and denial which has characterised the response of government to state-related deaths.”
The Lampard Inquiry will be looking into mental health services in Essex between 2000-2023. Hearings continue on Monday 16 September 2024, when the Inquiry will hear commemorative and impact evidence from bereaved families.
See reporting by the BBC, the Independent and Daily Telegraph here.
INQUEST is represented by Charlotte Haworth Hird and Amy Ooi at Bhatt Murphy, together with Lily Lewis and Anna Morris KC of Garden Court North.
