Southern Health: Ex-governor quit over 'corrupt' NHS trust

(L-R) David West, Robert Small, Marion Munns, Edward Hartley and Jo Deering died in the care of Southern Health Foundation Trust

A former governor of a scandal-hit NHS Trust told a panel investigating it that he resigned because he considered the organisation "corrupt".

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust is being probed after failures over five patient deaths between 2011 and 2015.

John Green said he believed trust's board were "denying the consequences" of a report which found it failed to investigate more than 1,000 deaths.

He said the NHS's complaints system was a "national disgrace".

Mr Green, who is also a carer for a wider family member, told the panel "up to the present moment" the trust's communication with families was "as bad as it ever was".

He said it was "to my astonishment" that his experience as a carer was "exactly the same treatment" as other bereaved families, who have claimed they have been "misled, misrepresented and bullied" by the NHS.

Who are the five families?

• Maureen Rickman, sister of Jo Deering, 52, from New Milton, Hampshire, who died in 2011

• Diane Small, mother of Robert Small, 28, from Fareham, Hampshire, who died in 2012

• Richard West, father of David West, 28, from Southampton, who died in 2013

• Ian and Jane Hartley, parents of Edward Hartley, 18, from Wickham, Hampshire, who died in 2014

• Angie Mote and Kim Vella, daughters of Marion Munns, 74, from Southampton, who died in 2015

The inquiry into Southern Health follows a report by Nigel Pascoe QC that found the organisation, one of the biggest psychiatric trusts in England, acted with "disturbing insensitivity and a serious lack of proper communication" with family members..

The hearings are looking at how it currently handles complaints, communicates with families of patients and carries out investigations.

Giving evidence earlier, Mr Green, who served as a governor at the trust from 2012 to 2016, said: "People like us are bullied, gaslighted, ignored, set aside and so on and that situation has not changed."

Asked why he resigned, he said he felt the trust's board at the time "over a period of a couple of months or so" was "denying the consequences of the report".

"I considered it [the trust] was corrupt," he added.

He said the trust's new board was a "breath of fresh air" but criticised the time it was taking to train to staff in a "triangle of care" initiative, which aims to form an "alliance" between a service user, staff member and a carer.

Mr Green also suggested families and carers should be more involved in the treatment of patients after he said staff had not asked him information about his family member.

He said that "all the people I have dealt with are lovely caring people" and that it was the system which needed reform.

Earlier in the inquiry, staff members said there had been a "cultural shift" at the trust.

The inquiry continues.