Lawyers warn Lampard Inquiry risks failing families

Solicitors acting for bereaved families have warned that England's first inquiry into mental health deaths risks failing to meet its legal duty - unless it sets out a "clear plan and roadmap".

But during a virtual hearing requested by legal teams on Monday, inquiry chairwoman Baroness Lampard said she was giving the concerns her "deepest consideration".

Now past halfway, the Lampard Inquiry - examining deaths at NHS-run inpatient units in Essex - was accused of being "inexcusably silent" on its timetable.

Brenda Campbell KC, representing Christopher Nota's family, said his mother, Julia, described the inquiry as their "last hope", but compared it to "the Titanic going down".

"It is personal, painful and rooted in unimaginable loss," Ms Campbell said.

"Families fear this inquiry may not deliver what it promised. What is the plan, where is the plan – and if there is no plan, why not?"

The Lampard Inquiry is examining more than 2,000 deaths at NHS-run inpatient units in Essex between 2000 and 2023. It is sitting until the end of 2026.

Sophie Lucas, representing Lydia Fraser-Ward – the sister of Pippa Whiteward, who died in 2016 – said without a clear roadmap there was a "very real risk that opportunities for learning", such as the lack of perinatal beds and out-of-area placements, would fall through the gaps.

Ms Lucas said there must be rigorous scrutiny of evidence from providers and she questioned the scale of investigative work still needed.

She said families did not yet know which experts would be called in relation to their loved ones' deaths or the systemic issues continuing across the country.

Maya Sikand KC, speaking for families represented by three law firms, said there were "urgent concerns" and described facing "a wall of silence" from the inquiry team.

"Without a robust and urgent roadmap, there is a real risk this inquiry will not be able to fulfil its statutory objectives in the allotted time," she warned.

Ms Sikand said there were just 36 sitting days left, yet the inquiry's website offered "almost nothing" and its language was "unhelpfully vague".

She criticised the lack of evidence from former patients, saying: "Their evidence should not be siloed or treated as a bolt-on."

Other lawyers raised concerns about how governance failures would be identified, the absence of neurodiversity experts and unclear plans for statistical analysis.

Nicholas Griffin KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, said a draft investigative strategy had been published – but lawyers said it raised more questions than answers.

In May, one legal firm had warned the inquiry was heading down a "troubling path".

Dr Achas Burin, representing it, said it had received no response to written submissions since then.

"If the inquiry carries out investigations behind closed doors, it would lose the trust of those taking part.

"An investigation that takes place on paper is too reminiscent of investigations that took place on behalf of the trusts concerned."

Fiona Murphy KC said it was a "matter of regret" that responses to prevention of future deaths reports had not been disclosed.

Anna Morris, from the charity Inquest, echoed concerns about the lack of disclosure, saying they had not received responses to submissions.

She urged Baroness Lampard: "Do not follow the tragic pattern that so many investigations have followed.

"We are concerned that the inquiry is replicating the experiences that so many families have already gone through."

She said relatives calling for public inquiries in Teesside and Manchester would be watching closely, and warned families were "losing confidence" in the process.

Ms Morris quoted Steve Kelly, whose brother Michael died at Hillsborough, saying last week: "No one should be beaten by the passage of time."

The inquiry's draft strategy proposes examining 140 deaths as illustrative examples, but legal teams urged that each case be looked at in detail, calling the process a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to embed lasting change".

Baroness Lampard has said she was committed to carrying out an investigation that was "fair, objective, thorough, rigorous and balanced".

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