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An independent inquiry has been launched into a failed health trust amid fears 150 deaths were not investigated properly.

Health Minister Stephen Hammond announced the inquiry into the now defunct Liverpool Community Health Trust (LCH), which ran services such as district nursing and prison healthcare between 2010 until last year.

The trust had already been subject to a review by Dr Bill Kirkup , who released a scathing report last year describing it as a “dysfunctional” organisation with a "bullying culture" that failed staff and patients.

Dr Kirkup, who was a member of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, will chair the inquiry, which is set to be conducted over three stages.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DOHSC) said Stages 1 and 2 will identify individual serious patient safety incidents that were not reported or adequately investigated by LCH and also undertake a series of historic mortality reviews.

Stage 3 will fully investigate incidents identified in stages 1 & 2 to determine the scale of patient harm, and a report into the inquiry's findings is set to be published at the end of 2020.

Mr Hammond said: “We owe it to the patients and families affected by substandard care in Liverpool Community Health to establish the full extent of events and give them the answers they need.

“The new investigation we have commissioned will review fresh evidence to make sure no stone is left unturned.

“Dr Bill Kirkup and his expert panel will draw upon his knowledge and experience in this area to oversee a thorough and independent investigation and we await his recommendations.”

“We are prepared to take any action that is necessary - locally or nationally - to prevent such occurrences in the future.”

Dr Kirkup's original review said "lives were likely to have been lost unnecessarily" at HMP Liverpool as a result of the trust’s failures to investigate the reporting of deaths in custody.

The failures in prison care, where some deaths were not even logged as serious incidents, were described as perhaps Dr Kirkup's "biggest area of concern" in the review.

The original review included bizarre accounts of a prisoner climbing into a tumble dryer which was then turned on by an officer.

The report stated: "This incident was never reported appropriately or shared within the organisation, to the Trust Board or to the prison Governor at the time.

"This practice was, regrettably, a common theme in both the Trust and within offender healthcare."

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The review found bullying was prevalent in all areas and some juniors were banned from even entering a manager's office.

Concerns about LCH emerged following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2013 alongside whistleblowers contacting West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper, who also had concerns about the treatment of her own father.

Questions were raised in Parliament in 2014, and with mounting pressure from the media LCH commissioned what became known as the Capsticks Report, which identified a number of failures.

The Capsticks Report prompted NHS Improvement to announce the Kirkup Review, which was tasked with examining the culture at the trust between 2010 and 2014.

(Image: PA)

Four ex employees of LCH, including former head of nursing Helen Lockett, are due to appear before a disciplinary panel of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) later this month over misconduct allegations.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust completed the take over of LCH services last year and has been given the task of implementing recommendations made by Dr Kirkup.

A spokesman for Mersey Care said: “Mersey Care welcomes today’s announcement of a new independent investigation into the historic failings at the former Liverpool Community Health between 2010 and 2014.

“After becoming the new provider for Liverpool Community Health services in April 2018, Mersey Care conducted a review into a number of historical issues relating to case management incident reporting and record keeping in accordance with the recommendations of the independent review into LCH led by Dr Bill Kirkup last year.

“This initial review uncovered 43,000 incidents, of which 17,000 are patient safety related which we believe require further scrutiny because of poor and inconsistent record keeping, data management and gaps in processes relating to HR investigations. We will co-operate fully with Dr Kirkup and his independent expert oversight panel for the new investigation.

“Liverpool Community Services are now a completely different organisation and were rated as ‘good’ for caring and responsive in the most recent inspection from the Care Quality Commission earlier this year. We can assure staff and patients that those services are now safe and we have established robust quality assurance checks and governance in place.”

A dedicated telephone helpline has also been established, for any patients that have concerns, on 0151 527 3400.