Psychiatric Hospitals: Death

(asked on 14th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that unnatural deaths in mental health settings are investigated by an independent body; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Philip Dunne Portrait
Philip Dunne
This question was answered on 22nd November 2017

The Government expects trusts to scrutinise the deaths of all patients who die under their management and care. The Learning from Deaths policy sets out the minimum requirements in relation to deaths due to problems in care. We would also expect trusts to continue to apply their existing processes for reviewing unnatural/unexpected deaths.

From Quarter 3 of 2017-18, trusts will publish data each quarter on the number of deaths more likely than not to be due to problems in care (including deaths of individuals with mental illness or a learning disability).

Certain deaths should be reported by trusts to other agents for investigation, notably the coroner, and this includes deaths thought to be unnatural or violent and every death of patients subject to detention under the Mental Health Act 1983.

On 1 April 2017, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) became operational with the overarching aim of investigating certain serious patient safety incidents that occur during the provision of NHS services (including mental health services) with a focus on learning. Directions provide for the HSIB to set its own investigation principles for determining which incidents to investigate.

The Health Service Safety Investigations Bill was published in draft on 14 September 2017 for pre-legislative scrutiny. The Bill will establish a new, independent Health Service Safety Investigation Body that will operate at arms’ length of Government and take forward the work of the existing HSIB.

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