Today, Mencap respond to this release: www.gov.uk/government/news/southern-health-to-get-expert-help-to-improve-investigations-into-deaths.

Jan Tregelles, chief executive at Mencap said:

The Mazars’ review showed that Southern Health only investigated 4 out of 93 unexpected deaths of people with a learning disability. This meant that opportunities were missed to learn from these deaths.  Families are clear that those responsible for this failure must be held to account. Monitor’s announcement today will not address this concern. It offers little in the way of accountability of Southern Health leadership and it is not clear how families will get answers about what happened to their loved ones.

Monitor and CQC have announced an investigation into how deaths of people with a learning disability are investigated across the NHS. They must set out a timetable for completing this and what it will cover, given concerns that the issues exposed at Southern Health may also be present in other parts of the NHS.