Mental Health Inquiry to Probe 2,000 Deaths

An inquiry examining the deaths of more than 2,000 mental health patients under the care of the NHS in Essex will investigate alleged failings on a “scale that’s deeply shocking,” according to its chairwoman. Baroness Kate Lampard said as she opened the statutory inquiry on Monday that the exact number of people who died because of the alleged failings in their care may never be known, but is likely to be “significantly in excess” of 2,000. She said she is “committed” to publish a figure but, “this number is only ever likely to be approximate and I find it shocking we may never be able to say for sure how many people died in the remit of this inquiry.”...