The Kerr/Haslam Inquiry [report]

This report sets out the findings and recommendations of the private inquiry into how the NHS dealt with complaints relating to the practice and conduct of two consultant psychiatrists, William Kerr and Michael Haslam, who worked in the same psychiatric hospital in North Yorkshire during the 1970s and 1980s, and who were both were later convicted of the indecent assault of female psychiatric patients. The two-volume report examines a range of issues including: i) background events including the range of concerns considered in the provision of mental health services, the conduct of the inquiry and the report in context; ii) detailed examination of the complaints against William Kerr and Michael Haslam, the NHS procedures then in place for raising concerns about healthcare professionals and actions taken in response to concerns; iii) the actions of particular GPs and the response of the GP community at large; iv) contributing factors which acted as a barrier to appropriate investigation and action, including organisational and structural issues, the prevailing medical culture and lack of a governance process, problems of professional practice and individual failings; and v) changes since the 1990s and recommendations for improvements in future practice.