THE TRUST that runs Petersfield hospital and other local health services accepts its investigations into patient deaths haven‘t always been good enough.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust provides community health, and specialist mental health and learning disability services for East Hampshire patients.

It is one of the largest mental health trusts in the country, covering Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

A leaked draft report for NHS England, says that since 2011 investigations into some of the 1,454 unexpected deaths of trust patients hadn’t been good enough.

In response, the trust said: “There are serious concerns about the draft report’s interpretation of the evidence. We fully accept that our reporting processes following a patient death have not always been good enough. We have taken considerable measures to strengthen our investigation and learning from deaths including increased monitoring and scrutiny.

“The review has not assessed the quality of care provided by the Trust. It looked at how the deaths of people with whom we had one or more contacts in the preceding 12 months, were recorded and investigated. In almost all cases, the trust was not the main care provider.

“We would stress the draft report contains no evidence of more deaths than expected in the last four years of people with mental health needs or learning disabilities for the size and age of the population we serve.

“When the final report is published we will review the recommendations and make any more changes necessary to ensure the processes through which we report, investigate and learn from deaths are of the highest possible standard.

“If you are directly affected by this issue, call this NHS number: 0300 003 0025.”