Today John and fellow Essex Colleagues, Priti Patel, Vicky Ford, James Duddridge, Alex Burghart, Giles Watling and a representative from James Cartlidge’s office, met with with Steve Barclay, the Secretary of State for Health to discuss the ongoing Essex Mental Health Inquiry.
John said:
“We were able to set out in detail to the Secretary of State our view that changes have to be made to the status of the Inquiry, following the statement of the Chair in January that the Inquiry will not be able to meet its Terms of Reference if it continues with a non-statutory status. We stressed that it was essential that the families fully engage with the Inquiry and that it also receive evidence from relevant current and former EPUT staff members.
The Secretary of State listened to our concerns and agreed with our points, and accepted that there had to be changes to the Inquiry status in order to obtain the necessary engagement.
I am pleased that he will be meeting with the Chair of the Inquiry after Easter to discuss the next steps. These may involve other Government Departments and he has promised to keep us informed. I would hope to hear his conclusions later next month“
