A mental health trust has pleaded guilty to failures of care involving the deaths of 11 patients.

The North Essex Partnership Trust accepted it failed to manage fixed ligature points in its inpatient units.

The trust admitted to safety failings at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on Wednesday (November 12).

The patients died between 2004 and 2015 whilst in the care of the trust, which merged South Essex Partnership Trust in 2017 to form the Essex Partnership University Trust.

Commenting after the first hearing Paul Scott, Chief Executive, of EPUT said:

“We have today entered a guilty plea to one charge under Section 3(1) Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 following an HSE investigation into the former North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families whose loved ones were part of this investigation.

“We are unable to comment further at this stage of the legal process.”

Last month, the government announced an indepedent inquiry would be held into several deaths at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford.

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Families of patients who have died have been petitioning for a public inquiry, including Melanie Leahy, mother of 20-year-old Matthew, who died at the centre in 2012.

Matthew was found hanging in his room.

An inquest into his death found there had been “multiple failings” at the centre.

Mrs Leahy, from the Maldon area, has been campaigning for the trust to be held to account.

More than 105,000 signatures were collected in support of a petition for a public inquiry into her son's death.