Gosport War Memorial Hospital


The Gosport War Memorial Hospital is a hospital in Gosport, Hampshire, England, part of the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.
In August 1998, following the death of Gladys Richards who had gone into Gosport War Memorial Hospital for rehab following a hip operation, her family reported concerns about her treatment to the police and to the coroner. In the next three years, more families of deceased patients came forward. On 20 June 2018, the Gosport Independent Panel published a report which found that 456 deaths in the 1990s had "followed inappropriate administration of opioid drugs". If similar cases with missing records are taken into account, the true number of victims may be up to 650. Assistant Chief Constable Nick Downing, head of the Serious Crime Directorate for Kent and Essex Police, announced on 30 April 2019 that a new criminal investigation into the deaths was to take place.

History

The foundation stone for the hospital, which was built as a memorial to members of the Portsmouth Division of the Royal Marine Light Infantry based at Forton Barracks who had died in the First World War, was laid by Field Marshal Earl Haig on 3 July 1921. The hospital opened on 19 April 1923. The East Wing was added in 1932 and the Canon Landon memorial clock, which recognised the life of Canon Guy Landon, Rector of Alverstoke from 1907 to 1947, was added following his death.
The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948. New out-patient and accident and emergency departments were added in 1963 and a physical medicine and x-ray facility was added in 1966. A petition with 20,000 signatures prevented the hospital from closing in the early 1980s. A new maternity ward opened in the early 1990s.

Opioid deaths

In August 1998, following the death of Gladys Richards who had gone into Gosport War Memorial Hospital for rehab following a hip operation, her family reported concerns about her treatment to the police and to the coroner. In the next three years, more families of deceased patients came forward. Following three police investigations, a Commission for Health Improvement investigation, a General Medical Council inquiry, the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence review and inquests into eleven deaths at the hospital, there still remained unanswered questions for the families as to what really happened to their relatives and to the conduct of the different investigations. As a result, the then health minister Norman Lamb set up the Gosport Independent Panel led by Bishop James Jones in July 2014.
On 20 June 2018, after an enquiry which took four years and cost £14 million, the Gosport Independent Panel published a report which found that 456 deaths in the 1990s had "followed inappropriate administration of opioid drugs". In his introduction, Bishop James Jones says:
If the similar cases with missing records are taken into account, the true number of victims may be up to 650. Other figures show that 70% of the victims were not admitted for terminal care, so their deaths were unexpected, with most living only 2 days or less after being administered the drug. Nurses concerns were repeatedly ignored.
The panel found that the hospital management, local healthcare organisations, Hampshire Constabulary, the Crown Prosecution Service, the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and local politicians had all failed to act to protect patients and their families. According to Prof Sir Brian Jarman, an expert on hospital mortality at the Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College London, the Gosport accident may be repeated because of NHS continued blame culture in pressuring or even firing whistleblowers.
The deaths were investigated for an episode of Panorama shown on 21 January 2019.
Steve Watts, former assistant chief constable at Hampshire Constabulary, who led the investigation into 94 of the deaths, declared on 21 January 2019: "I think the evidence is strong enough now, I think it was strong enough then ".
Assistant Chief Constable Nick Downing, head of the Serious Crime Directorate for Kent and Essex Police, announced on 30 April 2019 that a new criminal investigation into the deaths was to take place.