Police probe patient deaths during Covid pandemic

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said one of the deaths is believed to relate to a patient absconding from Bradgate mental health unit at Glenfield Hospital

Police are investigating a Leicestershire NHS trust over three patients who died during the Covid pandemic.

Leicestershire Police has said it is looking into Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) for offences relating to corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter regarding the deaths, which took place between September 2020 and July 2021.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said one of the deaths was believed to relate to a patient absconding from Bradgate mental health unit at Glenfield Hospital.

LPT told the LDRS it would be "inappropriate" to comment on "an ongoing police investigation".

A recent employment tribunal heard the patient, named only as Patient One in proceedings, was a new arrival on the Beaumont Ward of the unit in September 2020.

He was able to escape from the ward's garden, before taking his own life, the tribunal was told.

Safety concerns on the ward during Covid were at the heart of the case, with former consultant, Dr Mariam Benaris, claiming she was forced out of her role after blowing the whistle over her fears around patient safety.

The tribunal heard Dr Benaris and others working on Beaumont were concerned about the number of new admissions - who would have been at the start of the recovery and often had more complex needs - being concentrated in one ward, and the increased pressure they said this put on employees.

The trust told the tribunal the admissions ward was set up in response to NHS England's guidance in the early stages of the pandemic, adding it had conversations around controls to reduce risks relating to the new structure with mitigations being put in place.

It also denies its actions were intended as a detriment for the whistleblowing, saying Dr Benaris moved "voluntarily".

None of the three patients who lost their lives have been named by Leicestershire Police.

Confirming an investigation into "offences relating to corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter", a spokesman said: "The investigation remains ongoing. No charges have been brought at this time."