Mental health trust prosecution supported by parents of County Durham teenager who died in its care

Emily Moore with her father David Credit: Family handout

The parents of a County Durham teenager who took her own life at a North East mental health hospital say they strongly support criminal proceedings being brought against the trust that run it and have renewed their calls for its chief executive to resign.

The Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust was already being prosecuted by the Care Quality Commission over the death of 17 year old Christie Harnett at West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough in 2019.

On Friday 24 February, the CQC said the trust was facing further prosecutions for alleged breaches of the Health and Social Care Act. 

One relates to the death of an adult patient in 2020, and the other follows the death of 18 year old Emily Moore from Shildon who died at Lanchester Road in Durham in February 2020.

Emily's parents David and Susan Moore said: 'We strongly support the CQC's move to bring criminal proceedings against TEWV and would hope the forthcoming governance report brings about a change at the top. As a family, we call on Brent Kilmurray CEO to resign, and for a full public inquiry into this ever failing trust."

Emily Moore with her mum Susan Moore Credit: Family handout

Alistair Smith, solicitor for Watson Woodhouse is representing the families of Christie Harnett and Emily Moore.

He said: "It is in my mind an unprecedented situation where you have three prosecutions for the same trust, three separate incidents, of three separate hospitals."

A governance report into the running of the Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust is due to be published this Spring and was commissioned by NHS England following the closure of West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough in August 2019. It was shut by the Care Quality Commission following the deaths of 17 year olds Christie Harnett in June 2019 and Nadia Sharif in August 2019. 

NHS England also commissioned reports into the deaths of Christie, Nadia and Emily Moore. They were published in November 2022 and found a total of 120 failures in their care.

A spokesperson for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust said: “We have fully cooperated with the Care Quality Commission’s investigation and continue to work closely with them. We remain focused on delivering safe and kind care to our patients and have made significant progress in the last couple of years."