Patient Safety Incidents and Deaths: Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust

Following questions raised about the management of the Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust an independent review chaired by Dr Bill Kirkup CBE was established. The review report, published on 8 February 2018, found that there were significant failings in the trust from November 2010 to December 2014.

It is important that these failings are investigated, and lessons learnt to improve services. In response to these serious patient safety incidents described in the report the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care commissioned Dr Bill Kirkup to conduct an independent investigation into patient safety incidents at the trust.

These terms of reference cover patient safety incidents that occurred in the same period as the initial independent review addressed, namely November 2010 to December 2014.

This independent investigation is being conducted over three stages. Stage 1, which identified individual serious patient safety incidents that had not been reported or adequately investigated by the trust, and stage 2, an examination of a series of historic mortality reviews.

We are now entering stage 3, which will fully investigate those individual serious patient safety incidents identified from the previous stages to determine the scale of deaths and patient harm and identify local and national learning.

The work of the independent investigation panel is expected to complete by the end of 2021 and arrangements will be made for publication of its report to Parliament.

A copy of the terms of reference will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS376]