Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report of 12 June 2019 entitled Missed opportunities: What lessons can be learned from failings at the North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, what steps his Department is taking to (a) address the criticisms of leadership at that Trust and (b) ensure that mental health Trusts across the NHS are operating and delivering safe, high quality services for patients.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report recommended that NHS Improvement conduct a review of the cases detailed in the report once the Health and Safety Executive investigation and any related activity has been completed. NHS Improvement will make recommendations to the Department once its review has been completed. The review will also ensure that the learning from these tragic incidents is shared with mental health providers across the country.

NHS Improvement has reported that there is now a stable leadership team at the successor Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust under a new chief executive.

In October 2017, NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission launched a national patient safety improvement programme for mental health trusts, which is committed to engaging with all mental health trusts by the end of March 2020.