Today (2 November 2022), three NHS England independent investigation reports have been published. The reports look at the care and treatment of Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore at West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough, and in addition for Emily, at Lanchester Road Hospital in Durham, as well as the actions from partner organisations.
The investigation was commissioned by NHS England and carried out by Niche Health and Social Care Consulting.
In response to the findings of today’s reports, Brent Kilmurray, chief executive of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“On behalf of the trust, I would like to apologise unreservedly for the unacceptable failings in the care of Christie, Nadia and Emily which these reports have clearly identified.
“The girls and their families deserved better while under our care. I know everyone at the trust offers their heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the girls’ family and friends for their tragic loss.
“We must do everything in our power to ensure these failings can never be repeated.
“However, we know that our actions must match our words. We accept in full the recommendations made in the reports – in fact the overwhelming majority of them have already been addressed by us where applicable to our services.”
Mr Kilmurray, who became chief executive at the Trust the year after the girls’ deaths in 2019 and 2020, added: “It is clear from the reports that no single individual or group of individuals were solely to blame – it was a failure of our systems with tragic consequences.
“We have since undergone a thorough change in our senior leadership team and our structure and, as importantly, changed the way we care and treat our patients. However, the transformation needed is not complete. We need to get better and ensure that respect, compassion and responsibility is at the centre of everything we do.”
In this video chief executive Brent Kilmurray answers key questions about the reports that have been published today.
Read the NHS England independent investigation reports into the care and treatment of Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore, and our response to the recommendations in each of the three reports:
Report and our response to the recommendations: Christie Harnett
Report and our response to the recommendations: Nadia Sharif
