Bereaved families send open letter hoping to prevent 'further family heartbreak'

Families whose loved ones died whilst in mental health care have sent an open letter to the Labour Party in the hope that it could help any other families go through the same 'heartbreak and devastation'.

16 families of patients who died whilst under the care of mental health trust Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) have written to Labour, expressing they are "grateful to hear that a Labour Government would be committed to launching a statutory public inquiry into TEWV" if the party wins the upcoming general election.

Meanwhile, Abigail Gowland, a solicitor from Watson Woodhouse, the firm representing families, said: "All of the families we speak to say that they never want another family to have to go through the heartbreak and devastation of what they've been through."

The letter, sent by Rebuild Trust on behalf of bereaved families, also accepted the Labour Party's offer to meet with impacted families, and welcomed their commitment to the Northern Echo's manifesto.

A representative of the group said that each family aims to prevent anyone else from going through "the heartbreak and devastation" of losing a loved one in mental health care.

The group have been desperately campaigning for a public inquiry into TEWV for years - as they believe that failures contributed to the deaths of their loved ones, and are still impacting the care given to patients by TEWV.

They argue that a statutory public inquiry, like one happening into mental health care in Essex currently, is the only way forward by looking at deaths at TEWV as a collective to draw out common issues.

Last month, The Northern Echo outlined a 'manifesto for the North East', asking the future government to commit to an inquiry, as well as tackling several serious issues plaguing the North East, such as child poverty, the uncertain future of Newton Aycliffe's Hitachi factory,  dental deserts and knife crime.

In interviews, Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have both endorsed the Echo's manifesto.

Whilst visiting a school in Teesside, Mr Starmer said: "Not only are we in support of the work that you are doing, we've actually got the plan in place to make sure we can deliver it from day one."

On a separate visit, Rachel Reeves, added: “I  know Wes Streeting, the Shadow Health Secretary, has agreed to meet with the families of those affected by these real tragedies.”

In their letter, the families write: "We are the families who have been affected by the failures of the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust, most of us have lost loved ones whilst they were supposed to be in the care of the Trust.

"We are so grateful to hear that a Labour Government would be committed to launching a statutory public inquiry into TEWV should you gain power on July 4, 2024 and that this is a “key priority” for Labour which you would hope to get started from “day one.”

"In particular, we are thankful to Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves for their commitment to a statutory public inquiry into TEWV following their consideration of the Northern Echo’s manifesto earlier this month.

"This is extremely refreshing to hear, and we are delighted that you share the same values as us in relation to the Trust.

"We would like to accept the invitation to meet with Wes Streeting to discuss not only the Trust as a whole but our own individual battles with mental health services and look forward to formally arranging a meeting in the coming weeks."

This follows a period of intense scrutiny for the trust, including inspections grading it as ‘requiring improvement’, a raft of critical inquests into patient deaths, and a prosecution by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Last month, they were fined £200,000 after pleading guilty in connection with the deaths of two of their patients, Christie Harnett, 17, and an unnamed mum, known as Patient X for legal reasons, at their Middlesbrough hospitals.

The trust admitted that it failed to adequately assess patients' self-harm and suicide risk, or implement effective ways to reduce those risks.

The family of Christie Harnett has also signed the open letter. For them, though the trust pled guilty in connection with her death at TEWV’s since shut down West Lane hospital, they do not believe anything has meaningfully changed.

Christie’s stepfather Michael Harnett said that TEWV had "totally failed her".

“You'd hope things would have gotten better but I think it's still bad."

The government has promised an investigation into mental health inpatient settings, performed by the Health Services Safety Inspection Body (HSSIB), but the families claim that this "does not go far enough", and say that a year on no movement has been made, and they feel "left in the lurch".

Representatives for the group have expressed worries that "many more preventable deaths might have occurred" since the review was given royal assent in October of last year.

Alistair Smith, a solicitor for Watson Woodhouse, said: "We would hope that whoever comes in and covers the TEWV area is as interested as us in ensuring the best possible services."

Here is the letter in full:

(Image: The Northern Echo)

(Image: The Northern Echo)