Witness at NHS inquiry intimidated by ‘deeply disturbing’ messages

Families attack investigation into deaths at England’s largest mental health trust

Hearings are taking place into care at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A witness to an inquiry into deaths at England’s largest mental health trust has been intimidated by “cruel and calculated pressure”, with messages described by the man leading the investigation as “truly shocking”.

In a statement at the start of hearings into the quality of care at Southern Health Foundation Trust, inquiry chairman Nigel Pascoe QC said one witness had received threatening telephone calls, messages and emails, which he said were “totally unacceptable, damaging and deeply disturbing”.

Mr Pascoe said the inquiry had been told Beth Ford, whose job title at the trust is service user involvement facilitator, had been intimidated by members of the public.

Ms Ford, who has autism, was admitted to hospital for her mental health earlier this month as a result of the abuse, but has now returned home.

It’s the latest incident to hit the controversial inquiry, which has itself faced fierce criticism from the families of five patients who died between 2011 and 2015.

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The families have pulled out of the inquiry and accused the investigation and NHS England of bullying them and going back on promises to properly investigate the deaths of their relatives.

Maureen Rickman, whose sister Jo Deering died in 2011, told The Independent she didn’t believe any of the main families were involved in intimidating witnesses.

She said: “Nigel Pascoe has worked against the families throughout this process. There is a double standard going on here. I have had anonymous letters to my home address, and they were intimidatory. I don’t know if these people work for the trust or not, but staff wrote horrible things about me in my sister’s records, and I feel I’ve been bullied.

“It’s not any of the families doing the intimidating. We have all withdrawn from the process and are not having anything to do with it because it’s completely corrupt.”

She said the families had agreed to the inquiry’s initial terms of reference to investigate the facts of each case but added: “The bulk of what should have been delivered was not completed. They were avoiding everything.”

The investigation was commissioned by NHS England after it emerged in 2015 that hundreds of patient deaths had not been investigated. In February last year, the inquiry said there had been “significant, serious and deeply regrettable failures” in some patient deaths.

The trust was at the centre of a patient care scandal following the death of Connor Sparrowhawk, who drowned in a bath in 2013.

At the hearings on Monday, Mr Pascoe said: “This panel have been made aware of the telephone calls, messages and emails to which Beth Ford was referring. The panel also learnt of two truly shocking messages that she received on the same day, after she had completed her evidence.

“Some of these communications are already in the public arena, and we are of the strong view that if they were all made public, then any reasonable member of the public would be outraged by such cruel and calculated pressure, carrying the clear capability of causing harm. The panel are appalled to hear of the consequential effect on the health and wellbeing of Beth Ford, as any fair-minded person would be.”

He said three Twitter accounts were responsible for the intimidation, adding: “The view of the panel is that, taken as a whole, those messages, sent to a witness, are totally unacceptable, damaging and deeply disturbing. They appear to have been targeted both to intimidate and to demean the recipient. That is indefensible. I need also to spell out in unconditional terms that there must be no further attempts of any kind to intimidate, abuse or harass future witnesses. None.

“Attempts to prevent a witness giving evidence may lead to a criminal prosecution and to serious penal sanctions.”

He did not say whether the panel had referred the matter to the police.

The hearings into Southern Health are expected to last until next month.