Essex mental health inquiry will reveal hundreds more deaths, chair says

Statutory inquiry begins into about 2,000 deaths over 23 years after previous inquiry's calls for evidence ignored

Hundreds more avoidable deaths than previously estimated will be uncovered in the first statutory inquiry into mental health services, its chair said on the opening day.

The inquiry into mental health services in Essex was initially expected to examine about 2,000 deaths between 2000 and 2023. While opening proceedings in Chelmsford on Monday, its chair, Kate Lampard, said she expected to uncover significantly in excess" of this number.