Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health) said:
"We welcome this report, which highlights the failure of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust to investigate and learn from the deaths of people who received care from their Learning Disability and Mental Health services. We will be working closely with NHS England, Monitor and the Health and Safety Executive to understanding the implications of its findings.
"CQC will undertake a focused inspection of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust early in the new year, looking in particular at the Trust’s approach to the investigation of deaths. As part of this inspection, we will assess the Trust’s progress in improving its investigating and handling of patient deaths and in making the improvements required during our last inspection, published in February of this year.
"We will also be undertaking a wider review into the investigation of deaths of people with Learning Disabilities in Mental Health and Acute trusts in different parts of the country. As part of this review, we will assess whether opportunities for prevention of death have been missed, for example by late diagnosis of physical health problems."
About the Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, caring, well-led and responsive care, and we encourage care services to improve. We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.
Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.