Gosport doctor implicated in deaths of 456 patients says she was 'doing her best for patients'

Dr Jane Barton makes first comments after inquiry last week concluded she was 'responsible' for prescriptions linked to as many as 650 deaths

The doctor implicated in the deaths of at least 456 patients over 12 years working at Gosport War Memorial Hospital has said she was “doing her best for patients” in a pressurised part of the NHS.

Last week a major inquiry concluded Dr Jane Barton was “responsible” for the practice of prescribing powerful and unnecessary opiates which killed as many as 650 patients between 1988 and 2000.

Dr Barton and her husband, Tim Barton, stepped out from their Gosport home on Wednesday and in a statement read by Mr Barton maintained that a lack of hospital funding had been a factor in the deaths.

Mr Barton said: “Jane would like to thank her family, friends, colleagues, former patients and the many others for their continued support through this protracted inquiry.

“She has always maintained she was a hard-working, dedicated doctor, doing the best for her patients in a very inadequately resourced part of the health service.

“We ask that our privacy is respected at this time and she will be making no further comments.”

They did not comment when asked if they had any message for the families who have fought for 20 years for a full investigation of the deaths of their loved ones under Dr Barton’s care and now want to see criminal prosecutions.

Bridget Devine-Reeves, whose grandmother died at the hospital, criticised Dr Barton for failing to show any sympathy for the families of those who died at the hospital.

She said: "She has made no mention of the families or put any sense of empathy into her statement, which doesn't surprise me as she never has done.

"We have been here for a very long time and it's very unfortunate, she will give her comment, the families will respond, it shouldn't go on like this, it should be in a criminal court.

"We want all those people who did nothing when the families complained to be made accountable."

Ms Devine-Reeves added that Dr Barton's comments regarding a "very inadequately resourced part of the health service" were inappropriate.

She said: "The first ward that she started this 'institutional regime of prescribing drugs that ended life' was a small care home ward."

Last week the Gosport Independent Panel concluded that there had been an “institutionalised practice of shortening lives” at the hospital during Dr Barton’s tenure as a clinical assistant.

While the panel concluded she was “responsible” for the prescribing practices on the wards, it said nurses who administered powerful opiate doses and the consultants who oversaw their patients’ treatment all failed to stop it or speak out.

Concerns raised by nurses as early as 1991 were ignored by the hospital and the medical regulators, the report found.

In 1998 Gillian McKenzie, now 84, went to Hampshire Constabulary with concerns about the death of her 91-year-old mother, Gladys Richards. She was written off as a “troublemaker” by officers.

This disregard for patients’ concerns as well as a fixation on Dr Barton as a “lone wolf” was a major problem in three inadequate police investigations into the deaths, the report found.

Last week Hampshire Constabulary said it would “step back” from further investigation of the deaths because of the damage this had done to the families’ trust.

Dr Barton’s latest statement echoes comments she made in 2010 after a fitness to practise panel of the General Medical Council found her guilty of serious professional misconduct but allowed her to keep her medical license.

The panel's findings are now being considered by the Crown Prosecution Service and the government, which said it would provide a full response in the autumn.