Chapter 10: The local MP
Involvement after the House of Commons debate
On 3 January 2003, the Portsmouth News reported that a ‘row’ had erupted after Mr Viggers had criticised the cost and time being spent on an inquiry into deaths at the hospital. The article reported him as saying that the ongoing investigations had dragged on since Mrs Mackenzie had complained:
“The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) Report cost, I believe, £100,000 and there have been several Police reports that Mrs Mackenzie has found unsatisfactory. What I am pleading for a is a measure of finality in this; recognition that at the end of the day we need facts exposed and opinions expressed, then we need to move on. Eight inquiries into one hospital is a very large number of expensive and time consuming investigations.” (FAM000050, p58)
In the same article, Mrs Mackenzie was quoted as saying:
“Mr Viggers should be doing more research before making comments like this. The police called in the GMC and they backed the case going to the Crown Prosecution Service. He has never had the courtesy to reply to my letters or to those of others who have written to him.” (FAM000050, p58)
A note prepared by the Communications Manager of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority drew the attention of the Department of Health, CHI and the Hampshire Constabulary to the article and stated: “At the time, I commented that the MPs statement might not be viewed as sympathetic to the families and to the need to investigate these matters fully” (DOH000393, p2).
On 11 February, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a programme in its File on 4 series which examined the allegation that the lives of elderly patients were being shortened by their treatment. The programme included Mr Viggers’ interview with the BBC’s reporter, David Lomax:
“LOMAX: Last week, in a hotel in nearby Fareham, more than a hundred people, including bereaved relatives, attended a private meeting about the Gosport case. File on 4 has been told that the police reassured relatives that they were taken their investigations seriously and that these were continuing. The local MP, Peter Viggers, told the House of Commons recently that it was now time to draw a line under all these inquiries. There had so far been eight of them, he said, and the House could imagine their cost and the effect on the management of what he called a much loved and appreciated hospital. If it is so good, why is it that there have been so many allegations about how elderly patients are being treated here?
VIGGERS: There has been a massive amount of local publicity, particularly in the local newspaper, and more and more people, having read the local newspaper, I think have come to the conclusion that perhaps as they have a relative or a friend who died here, perhaps something could have been done to help him or her more than was done.
LOMAX: But you’re not suggesting these allegations are made without sincerity?
VIGGERS: It’s not for me to probe motives. I have no doubt at all, from considerable correspondence that I’ve had, that people are distressed about the loss of their dear ones here. Some of the allegations which are being made are perhaps a bit extreme.
LOMAX: But the fact is that in the CHI investigation here, there were serious concerns discovered.
VIGGERS: Well, no doubt CHI feel a sense of satisfaction at having found something to put in their report.
LOMAX: But isn’t it true that if it had not been for people making these allegations, there would not have been a series of inquiries, and they wouldn’t have discovered the practices that were on a couple of wards here taking place?
VIGGERS: I don’t want to comment on that.
LOMAX: But it’s true.
VIGGERS: I don’t want to comment on it.
LOMAX: But these were your constituents who are making these complaints.
VIGGERS: I really do not want to comment on the CHI report.” (FAM001167, pp11–12)
There are no documents available to the Panel which show any further comment from Mr Viggers, either directly to the points made by the Portsmouth News about his remarks or to the File on 4 broadcast. The documents do show that Mr Viggers’ continuing concern was the number and length of the inquiries and their effect on the staff at the hospital.
Mr Viggers expressed his concern once again in a letter to John Reid MP, then Secretary of State at the Department of Health, on 13 February 2004:
“The Department of Health recently announced that it was aiming to ensure that all medical enquiries should be completed within two months. Following allegations by a woman about the death of her mother at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital, there have been various enquiries which have expanded with the passage of time. The Hospital faces continuing enquiries which are inevitably having a serious effect on morale. May I please ask how your new proposal to limit the term of enquiries can be reconciled with the situation at Gosport War Memorial Hospital, and when may we expect to have a conclusion of this matter?” (DOH700013, p4)
In replying to Mr Viggers, Rosie Winterton MP, as the Minister responsible for health services in the south of England, clarified that the Department of Health announcement concerned only the timetable for the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection in investigating complaints. Her letter continued:
“Turning to the concerns you have raised about the investigations into deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital. As you are aware, there is a ongoing police inquiry into the past care and treatment of patients at the Hospital and it is not appropriate for me to comment on this. However, I am assured that the NHS in Hampshire and the Isle of White has co-operated fully with Hampshire Constabulary during the investigation and will continue to do so. I also understand that the Hampshire police are keeping the families fully informed of how their investigation is going at every stage. I hope this addresses the points you have raised.” (DOH700013, pp2–3)
Mr Viggers wrote to Lucy Docherty, Chair of Fareham and Gosport PCT, on 30 March 2004 and enclosed his correspondence with the Minister (DOH700013, p1).
On 13 September 2004, Mr Viggers asked the first of three Parliamentary Questions relating to the hospital. On this occasion his question to the Home Secretary was in two parts. First, when did the Home Secretary expect inquiries into medical and nursing practices at Gosport War Memorial Hospital to be concluded. Second, how many man-hours had been expended by staff at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in responding to inquiries about medical and nursing practices at the hospital.1
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1.
House of Commons Debate, 13 September 2004. Hansard, vol 424, cols 1404–5W. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/2004/sep/13/gosport-war-memorial-hospital#S6CV0424P2_20040913_CWA_79 (accessed 17 April 2018).