Essex mental health inquiry pointless without legal powers, say families

Call for review to have statutory powers to make witnesses give evidence after only 11 of 14,000 come forward

• What is the Essex mental health inquiry and why is it being criticised?

Bereaved relatives have said an independent inquiry into the death of almost 2,000 mental health patients across NHS trusts in Essex is not “fit for purpose” in the absence of legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence.

The call for a statutory inquiry by 83 families comes after the chair of the review, Dr Geraldine Strathdee, published an open letter saying it would “not be able to meet its terms of reference with a non-statutory status”.