Lampard Inquiry: Nadine Dorries accused of 'cover up' over mental health deaths in Essex
Former Conservative health minister Nadine Dorries has been accused of attempting a "cover-up" to prevent a full public inquiry into the deaths of mental health patients in Essex.
The Lampard Inquiry will investigate thousands of deaths of people who were receiving mental health inpatient care in Essex between 2000 and 2023.
At the start of the inquiry on Monday, Steven Snowden KC, for law firm Hodge Jones & Allen, raised an article that had been published earlier in The Daily Telegraph.
The article includes details of leaked WhatsApp messages from Ms Dorries, including an alleged exchange with then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock in November 2020.
In the messages, Ms Dorries wrote that she was “picking off” families whose relatives had died as a way to ensure a “full public inquiry” into “suspicious” deaths was not launched, the inquiry heard.
Mr Snowden told the inquiry on Monday: “What she [Nadine Dorries] did, we say, is a classic example of cover-up.
“Campaigners being actively undermined.
“A divide and conquer strategy when all those families sought was the truth.”
He continued: “We may make a formal request in due course that Nadine Dorries and Matt Hancock be called to give evidence but that’s a matter for another day.”
The Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry was established in 2021 without statutory status.
It was upgraded to a statutory footing last year, which means it has legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence.
Speaking on the first day of the inquiry, Mr Snowden said some patients in the care of NHS trusts in Essex were “traumatised, or re-traumatised, by ill-treatment and abuse” and some suffered “avoidable injury, whilst on an NHS ward”.
“What is more, it happened time and again,” he said. “Every time it happened, there was an opportunity to prevent further death and ill-treatment.
“But lessons were not learned, practices did not change, poor decisions were repeated, the tragedies continued, and continue to this day.”
In response to the Telegraph's claims, Ms Dorries said: “It is not appropriate for former ministers to discuss private conversations but there were a range of opinions by the families of those affected and I listened to all of them.
"I approved the inquiry in the face of strong resistance from official bodies and ensured this happened before the summer recess so that the inquiry was in progress before a possible reshuffle in the September, which would have resulted in further delay.
"I was a health minister for two years with a record of delivery I am proud of.
"Mental health is a highly politicised sector (if you are not on the left that is), and that, on top of the often tragic cases me and my team were encountering, makes working in this area challenging. That I did so during Covid made it especially so.
"I am not ashamed to say that – if I hadn’t found it challenging that would have meant I didn’t care.”
If you or someone you know is suffering as a result of mental health, there is help and support available. In an emergency call 999 or go to A&E.
Samaritans: Call on 116 123 or visit the website.
NHS 111: Non-emergency advice is available online (only call 111 if you cannot get help online). People with hearing problems can use the NHS 111 British Sign Language (BSL) service.
MIND: Call 0300 123 3393 or find tips and support on its website. Mind information and support.
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