The MP, NHS bosses and coroners who failed victims

THE victims of the Gosport hospital scandal were failed by the authorities at every level, the independent report found.

Doctors and nurses failed to challenge institutionalised practices that condemned vulnerable patients to death.

And medical watchdogs, police, prosecutors and coroners missed vital opportunities to intervene.

Among those criticised in the report were SIR PETER VIGGERS, the oncerespected local MP who was accused of failing to represent his constituents.

Instead, he sided with those in charge at Gosport War Memorial Hospital at every turn, even campaigning to keep it open.

Born in Gosport, Sir Peter became one of the faces of the MPs’ expenses scandal when it was revealed he claimed £1,645 for a floating duck house for his pond.

The Tory MP accused those calling on him to help of using ‘some very extravagant language’, adding: ‘This does not alter the fact that a high standard of care is provided by a devoted staff.’

Even on the eve of the 2009 inquests, which followed years of delay, he questioned whether they were necessary.

In the report, the panel said: ‘Sir Peter was also consistent in not supporting his constituents in pressing for further investigations.’ Sir Peter declined to comment at his Westminster home last night.

MAX MILLETT, former chief executive of

Portsmouth HealthCare NHS Trust, which ran the hospital, is accused of failing to spot the crisis unfolding on his watch. As anger grew over the hospital, he refused to meet grieving families.

The panel suggested police should have treated him as a ‘potential person of interest’ and seized his records instead of asking for them voluntarily.

Mr Millett, who still lives in Southsea, Portsmouth, was made redundant in a reorganisation. He was not available for comment yesterday. The panel found that coroners DAVID

HORSLEY and ANDREW BRADLEY, who were responsible for investigating suspicious deaths, were preoccupied with the cost and workload created by the scandal.

Mr Horsley lobbied the Government hard to take the cases under the wing of a public inquiry. Ultimately, he agreed to undertake only ten inquests out of a potential 91 after ministers refused to order a public inquiry. He brought his former part-time colleague Andrew Bra-

dley out of retirement to oversee the hearings but they were beset by delays. The inquiry raises serious questions over the conduct of DR ALTHEA LORD, a consultant at the hospital at the time. An expert in elderly medicine, she is accused of failing...