Exclusive: Regulators to face scrutiny at Morecambe Bay inquiry

A copy of the draft terms of reference for the inquiry in public, which will be led by Bill Kirkup, sets out how the investigation will look at maternity and neonatal services at the trust between June 2008 and September 2010.

The document, seen by HSJ, reveals for the first time the role of commissioners such as the North West Strategic Health Authority and two local primary care trusts, and regulators the CQC and Monitor will fall under the inquiry’s remit.

It says: “The investigation should consider the actions of regulators and commissioners in so far as they appertain directly to the safe provision of maternity and neonatal services.”

While many of the bodies have been swept away by the government’s Health Act, it could lead to questions for individuals who ran them at the time.

NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar was head of the North West SHA between 2006 and 2011 and Health Education England chief executive Ian Cumming led North Lancashire Primary Care Trust between 2006 and 2009.

The Morecambe Bay inquiry was ordered by health minister Dan Poulter earlier this year following a number of maternal and infant deaths at the trust between 2004 and 2008.

The terms of reference also state Dr Kirkup, formerly a member of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, will investigate the management at the trust including the actions of the trust board and its governance procedures.

It will focus on the “actions, systems and processes” at the trust including the “process of foundation trust accession” and the “commissioning environment”.

According to the draft, Dr Kirkup will reveal what actions could have been taken to mitigate safety concerns, and he will make conclusions on the trust’s “ability to discharge its duties”.

He will also produce a series of recommendations on the lessons learned for the trust and wider NHS to prevent similar failures.

James Titcombe, whose son Joshua died at the trust in 2008, set up the campaign group Morecambe Bay Inquiry Action with 10 other families earlier this year.

He said families would press for changes to the terms of reference to widen the time period and to ensure evidence was made public.

“We want the truth about the dreadful failures at Morecambe Bay and Furness General Hospital to be made public and so the NHS nationally can learn lessons from what happened,” he said.

“We are confident Bill Kirkup is the right person to lead the inquiry.”

A spokesman for NHS England, which is commissioning the inquiry, said: “NHS England is giving its full support to the independent review led by Bill Kirkup into Morecambe Bay.

“Whilst the exact terms of reference are being agreed, we are concentrating on collating all material which may be relevant to the review from now defunct NHS bodies such as the strategic health authority.

“We are committed to making this information available to the review team and to the wider public.”