Wes Streeting confirms public inquiry into Teesside NHS trust

An NHS trust which grieving families say subjected their loved ones to ”chaotic and appalling” mental health care will be the subject of a public inquiry.

Relatives met with the Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who announced the probe into the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust (TEWV), after years of campaigning.

They included the families of Christie Harnett and Nadia Sharif, who were treated at West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough, where they died by suicide both aged 17, and Emily Moore, 18, who also took her own life after being treated there.

The trust said it would “fully support the process with transparency, openness and humility”.

Labour’s Streeting said he was grateful to all the families who shared their stories.

“What happened to their loved ones is unacceptable,” he said.

“Their courageous and tireless campaigning – not only on behalf of their families but for everyone in urgent need of mental health support – has been nothing short of inspirational.”

He said the inquiry would focus on “uncovering failures in care” at TEWV and it would run separately to other ongoing inquiries into mental health services, such as the Lampard Inquiry.

Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, who supported the families in their calls said the announcement came with a “sense of vindication”.

“Today we have a huge sense of relief and achievement reflecting years of tireless effort, but also a sense of vindication for their determination that only a public inquiry would do,” he said.

He added it was “imperative” all public services were held to account.

McDonald said he acknowledged the trust’s “efforts to prevent future failures”.

“This has been a long hard fight to get to this day and the inquiry ahead will be painful but sadly it is very necessary,” he said.

Alison Smith, chief executive of TEWV, said she wanted the trust to continue to improve.

“Above all, we are committed to listening, reflecting, and taking meaningful action to ensure that we continually improve as an organisation,” she said.

The families claimed the deaths of their loved ones were ”preventable tragedies”.

In 2022 an independent inquiry found three young women had died after a catalogue of failures at the ”unstable” and ”overstretched” mental health hospital.

The trust apologised and was ordered to pay £215,000 for safety failings which contributed to Miss Harnett’s and another unnamed patient’s deaths.

Miss Harnett’s stepfather Michael Harnett, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, said he had repeatedly complained to the trust about West Lane but nothing changed.

“It was horrendous, every patient seemed to be self-harming. There’d be patients walking around covered in blood,” he said.

“Why was it allowed to get that bad and why has it been allowed to carry on since?”

He said he feared without answers, more people would die.

• If you have been affected by anything in this article, help and information is available on the BBC Action Line.

Miss Moore took her own life in February 2020 while she was an inpatient at Lanchester Road mental health hospital in Durham.

Her father David said campaigning for a public inquiry was what had kept him going.

“She deserves it and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to any other families.”

The Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Trust is one of the largest foundation trusts in the country, serving a population of around two million people across County Durham, Teesside and North Yorkshire.