Two members of chambers have spent the month of July involved in the Lampard Inquiry’s latest public hearings. The statutory inquiry is examining events surrounding the deaths of some 2,000 patients in psychiatric care in Essex between 2000 and 2023. It is chaired by Baroness Lampard, who led the review of NHS investigations surrounding Jimmy Savile.
Thomas Hayes is part of the Counsel to the Inquiry team. Thomas was involved in questioning, on behalf of the Chair, some of those witnesses who gave evidence over the three-week tranche of hearings.
Meanwhile, Jim Duffy is instructed as a senior junior in the team representing the largest cohort of families and ‘lived experience’ core participants. Jim is instructed by Nina Ali of Hodge, Jones & Allen.
The focus of the July hearings included the use on wards of controversial video-based monitoring systems (such as ‘Oxevision’). The Chair also heard further evidence from bereaved families, including the mother of Abbigail Smith, who Jim had previously represented in the Coroner’s Court.
Baroness Lampard also heard evidence from the current Chief Executive of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust in relation to the his organisations engagement and compliance with the Inquiry process.
The next evidential hearings are due to take place in October.
