Echo Comment on the setting up of the TEWV inquiry

It is vindication for the families who have been let down by the trust and for those who have been supporting them and amplifying their calls. These include The Northern Echo, which Mr Streeting yesterday praised for its “tenacious” reporting of the issue.

After a decade of worrying cases, it is now crucial that this inquiry moves speedily to hear the evidence and draw its conclusions. Indeed, Mr Streeting first met the families in February, promised an announcement by the end of March but it is only now, mid-December, that things are getting started.

This speed is crucial because all the families deserve answers. It is also crucial because, as is so often the case in public bodies, the churn of those responsible is immense, with the people in charge moving on to other – highly lucrative – jobs within the NHS when they need to be held accountable.

And finally, the whole of the North East needs to see that this trust, which looks after the most vulnerable of us who have mental health issues, is treating our people with the greatest care. That palpably was not the case when Christie Harnett, Emily Moore and Nadia Sharif died between June 2019 and February 2020 when there were 119 failings in the way they were treated – and they could be any of our family members, any of our loved ones.

So many thanks to Mr Streeting for beginning this process of openness and transparency. Let’s now see it moving, and perhaps also Mr Streeting could help the people of the region find out the truth about their ambulance service and also breast cancer care in Durham and Darlington.