Mum finally feels 'heard' after son's death

Melanie Leahy has been campaigning for her son after he died in 2012

A mum whose son died in a "hell on Earth" mental health facility in 2012 finally felt "heard" following a meeting with the health secretary.

Melanie Leahy was one of the bereaved families who met Wes Streeting to raise concerns about how the Lampard Inquiry was being conducted.

She told the MP that after working for "so many years" to get the review, there was "no communication" and a "lack of funding for our solicitors".

Following the meeting, Ms Leahy said "at last, someone in government appears to be listening" but "time will tell."

Streeting said he hoped "wider learnings for the health system" were made as part of the inquiry.

'Radical reform'

The Lampard Inquiry has looked into at least 2,000 mental health deaths in Essex between 2000 and the end of 2023.

Ms Leahy said: "It is the first successful meeting I have had with any secretary of state to be honest. We've asked him to step in and oversee the inquiry and look into it for us and he said he's going to do that."

"I am very hopeful, and to be honest, he is the only secretary of state that has bothered to give us the time of day.

"We feel heard, [but] time will tell."

She added: "Now we've got the biggest inquiry ever into the psychiatric system in this country, it has to be done right."

The families were due to meet with Streeting again in two months.

Ms Leahy said she hoped the things they had discussed would be channelled into positive change over the next few months.

"This whole journey has been a battle and fighting for it and I don't feel as though the fight has gone away yet," she added.

"But at last, someone in government appears to be listening."

Streeting told the BBC: “My deepest sympathies are with Mrs Leahy, Mrs Hopper and every family who has lost a loved one in these tragic circumstances.

“Every person affected by this ordeal has a right to tell their story.

"Throughout the public hearings so far, the inquiry has heard testimonies from many families and we are confident that the inquiry will provide a valuable channel for them to have their voices heard."

Bayo Alaba, MP for Southend and Rochford, said the meeting went well

Bayo Alaba, MP for Southend and Rochford, went to the meeting and said it was "really positive".

"We were talking about some real issues, the families were able to share their journey and convey their concerns," he said.

"The key thing at the moment is communication and establishing the relationship with the families and the secretary of state and how they feed into the inquiry."