Earlier this year, INQUEST held a Family Listening Day, hosting 23 family members, including those affected by the Hillsborough disaster, the Post Office Scandal, and those affected by deaths in NHS settings.
The purpose of the day was to take families views on a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which aims to rebuild trust and foster respect and address the unacceptable defensive culture prevalent across too much of the public sector.
The main issues raised were surrounding:
- Lack of timely disclosure causing delays and hindering thorough investigation.
- Hostile culture characterised by institutional denial and lacking compassion. Truth telling, learning and accountability.
- Investigations prioritising the needs of establishment over the needs of families and those affected.
- ‘Egregious’ lies and over-ups told but public service officials.
- Limited access to legal representation, whilst state bodies enjoyed publicly. funded legal representation.
The recommendations by the families include:
- The Hillsborough Law to be implemented in full.
- Full disclosure of evidence, without delay.
- Families should be entitled to equality of arms, providing equal access to non-means-tested, public funding for legal representation.
- Duty of candour on public and private bodies.
- Sanctions to discourage those seeking to avoid compliance with a Hillsborough Law.
- Implement an annual reporting mechanism outlining the progress of the Hillsborough Law with the opportunity of feedback from families.
- Protection for whistleblowers to encourage them to come forward without fear of retribution.
- A National Oversight Mechanism to monitor and follow-up on the implementation of recommendations arising from inquests, inquiries and other investigations into state-related deaths.
Duty of Candour
All families at the Listening Day reported unparalleled experience of harm caused by cover-ups and stated that the lack of candour undermines processes for ascertaining failures of care, negligence and poor practice.
It was felt that failure to disclose information reflected state institutions’ willingness to place reputational management above the truth, and that receiving key information late leaving little time for legal representation to consider the documentation.
Families also questioned why the onus was on families to have to fight for justice without financial means and support, whilst public bodies benefited from state-funded legal representation.
Culture and Behaviour
All families noted the difficulties that they experienced whilst going through the Inquest process, attempting to manage the legal process and their grief. Families stated that they faced a culture that was “lacking compassion”, and not uncommonly described as “vicious”.
Hillsborough Law
It was felt that a ‘parity of arms’ was necessary, to ensure that funding and representation is equal. All agreed that sanctions should be introduced to tackle failures to assist in inquiries and investigations, and for those who mislead the public by lying or failing to disclose relevant information.
Independent oversight is necessary, suggesting this be met by a National Oversight Mechanism, to ensure proper monitoring, oversight and publication of actions taken in response to recommendations from inquests and inquiries.
We wrote about the National Oversight Mechanism here:
INQUEST Launches No More Deaths Campaign – Farleys Solicitors
In conclusion, there was a unified call for the Hillsborough Law to be enacted in its entirety as per the 2017 Bill, without dilution, to prevent future injustices and protect bereaved families.
How Farleys Can Help You
Here at Farleys, we have represented families on a number of occasions where we have had to fight for the truth around the circumstances of a death. It is well recognised that in many cases there is an inequality in arms at inquests with families often being left without legal representation.
Some examples of our recent cases are:
- Charlotte Parry, a mental health inpatient, where a jury found her death was contributed to by neglect Inquest into the death of Charlotte Parry concludes with Jury finding Neglect of GMMH
- Ellie Marsden, who was a passenger in a van subject to a police pursuit Jury Concludes in Inquest into Deaths of Ellie Marsden and Ryan Duffy
- Charlie Millers, where multi-agency failings contributed to his death Charlie Millers Inquest Concludes Multi-Agency Failings
- Elizabeth Collins, a patient on a mental health unit, where her death was contributed to by neglect Inquest Concludes Neglect by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Oliver Davies, a prisoner who’s death was contributed to by neglect Inquest Jury Find Neglect Contributed to Prisoner’s Death
- John Pratt, who attended A&E for his mental health, where the jury found his death was contributed to by neglect Inquest into the death of John Paul Pratt
In certain circumstances, Legal Aid is available for families who are faced with an inquest into the death of a loved one which will cover the cost of legal representation.
For more information or to speak to a solicitor about funding legal representation for an inquest, do not hesitate to call us today on 0845 287 0939. Alternatively, you can complete a contact form online and one of our inquest lawyers will respond to you as soon as possible.
