KINGSWAY HOSPITAL 2

Three members of staff at the centre of allegations of abuse at Kingsway Hospital have been suspended since 1997, costing the taxpayer more than £500,000. The NHS is still paying salaries to the one woman and two men who were suspended when the police launched an investigation in November 1997. It followed claims by two other members of staff that food and drink was withdrawn for up to three weeks at a time, leaving patients weakened and susceptible to infection which led to their deaths. The patients were elderly and suffering from psychiatric conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and died between 1995 and 1997. It took two years for the police to send a file to the Crown Prosecution Service. Nine months later, the CPS announced it would not pursue criminal proceedings.

The file was then passed to Derby coroner Peter Ashworth to decide whether or not to hold an inquest. He decided in 2001 to hold inquests into a number of deaths, but nothing has happened for three years. It was revealed that inquests would be held this year into 11 deaths, five more than the CPS was asked to look at, but both the coroner and some of the families have called for a public inquiry. Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust carried out its own inquiry in July 1997, after which it was decided not to take any disciplinary action. Nevertheless, chief executive Mike Shewan said he has had to wait until inquests are held before making a decision about the staff.

Meanwhile, they are in limbo, and he revealed their wages had cost at least £500,000. He said, "These people have been under a cloud for seven years, suspension is a not a disciplinary action. The internal inquiry hadn't found any evidence to the extent of needing disciplinary action. "The staff are suspended and we are not in a position to reinstate them until after the inquest." One of the families is that of Ernest Smith. He died in May 1997 aged 74 from pneumonia due to the Alzheimer's disease. Son David Stearman-Smith said, "£500,000 is an awful lot of money but for my family all that really matters is that our questions about my father's death are answered. We want to know how my father died and if anyone contributed to his death by cruel actions."

A coroner has ruled food and drink was deliberately withdrawn from patients at a Derby hospital in the 1990s. But the inquest into the deaths of 11 elderly men at the Kingsway Hospital ruled that all died of natural causes. Deputy Coroner Sir Richard Rougier said there had been "an unhappy atmosphere" in the ward where the men died. But he added there were too many uncertainties to say the policy of withholding food, for fear of choking, contributed to their deaths. Mr Rougier, however, criticised the management in his ruling and said doctors had left decisions about the treatment of patients to nursing staff. The inquest heard all 11 were in the terminal stages of senile dementia and died from bronchial pneumonia between 1995 and 1997.

The inquest at Derby's Pride Park heard it was common for severe dementia patients not to be given food and drink. Chris Gawne, a solicitor for some of the families in the case, said after the verdict, "The families are relieved that the inquests have now come to a conclusion and are confident that the causes of these patient's deaths have been properly and rigorously examined. The families can take comfort in the fact that their loved ones died solely because they reached the end of their natural lives." A consultant psychiatrist had told the inquest earlier that not feeding patients could be in their "best interests".

Dr Maureen Royston said many patients with dementia suffered eating difficulties or a lack of interest in food, which can lead to choking or pneumonia. "I have been involved in that scenario where it became quite clear that a patient cannot swallow anything safely and the best interests of that patient would be not to continue and not to put them through what must be an unpleasant experience," she told the inquest. A police investigation launched in 1997 led to the suspension of three hospital workers but no-one was charged. Sir Richard Rougier, a retired High Court judge, was appointed as a deputy coroner to handle the case as it was expected to last several months. A witness said staff had drawn up a so-called "death list" of patients they thought had died before they should have, the inquest heard.

The 18-bed ward for elderly male patients suffering long-term illness closed in 2001. Mike Shewan, chief executive of Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust, said after the hearing, "Dementia is a complex condition, the extent of which is yet to be fully understood. That said, it is clear that the end stage of dementia involves the body simply shutting down and always leads to death. The inquest verdicts should reassure families and others about the care that patients received at that time."

The public has become used to bland outcomes to public inquiries held years after the heat has gone out of issues. Disappointingly, Kingsway is no different because - surprise, surprise - no-one is to blame. There's only one sure result - we, the taxpayers, foot the £2.2m bill. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

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