Bereaved relatives have said an independent inquiry into the death of almost 2,000 mental health patients across NHS trusts in Essex is not “fit for purpose” in the absence of legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence.
The call for a statutory inquiry by 83 families comes after the chair of the review, Dr Geraldine Strathdee, published an open letter saying it would “not be able to meet its terms of reference with a non-statutory status”.
