Justice must be thorough, but familes need answers

It is now quarter of a century since red flags were first raised about deaths at Gosport War Memorial War Hospital. To say the final scale of the number of deaths took most by surprise would be an understatement.

The Gosport Independent Panel report released in 2018 found that some 450 people had their lives shortened at the hospital, while another 200 were ‘probably’ similarly given opioids between 1989 and 2000 without medical justification.

For a long time, the finger of suspicion was pointed at just one person – Dr Jane Barton – but no one has faced criminal or civil charges relating to the deaths.

However, the report did find that the hospital had an ‘institutionalised regime of prescribing and administering “dangerous doses” of a hazardous combination of medication not clinically indicated or justified.’

The Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, which took over the investigation in 2019, has a 150-strong team which has looked at a staggering 3m documents and taken more than 1,100 statements.

The news that they now have 19 suspects will provide some vindication for the victims’ families and their longheld concerns that there was a much bigger problem at the hospital than had previously been uncovered.

Indeed, the families have long been calling for a Hillsborough-style investigation with judge-led inquests as the only way to get to the truth of the matter.

Given that it is already four years since the latest police investigation began, the wheels of justice are turning at a pace which must be beyond frustrating for the families. There is no suggestion alongside today’s news of how much longer it will take for any charges to be brought – if any.

The sad thing is that this has dragged on for so long, many of those victims’ family members will not live themselves to finally see justice served.