Five new suspects in Gosport hospital deaths probe

Police investigating hundreds of deaths at a hospital have identified five more suspects, bringing the total to 29.

At least 456 patients died after being given powerful painkillers inappropriately at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in Hampshire between 1989 and 2000, an inquiry previously found.

A new criminal investigation, following three previous inquiries that did not result in charges, began to send files to the Crown Prosecution Service last year.

Detectives said 24 people were suspected of gross negligence manslaughter and five of health and safety offences.

Kent Police, which is leading the new inquiry, previously said the medical records of more than 750 patients had been examined.

The force said the Operation Magenta team had assessed more than three million pages of documents and taken about 1,200 witness statements from affected family members.

Tim Wellstead, whose father Walter died at the hospital in 1998, said he appreciated the scale of the police inquiry, which began in 2019.

However, he said: "Six years is a long time to wait for an outcome. I was 52 when Dad died. I am 77 now.

"I am determined to see it through. I want justice for my father."

A 2018 report concluded as many as 650 patients probably died, amid a culture of "disregard for human life".

Concerns were formally raised by nurses in 1991 about the hospital's use of diamorphine and syringe drivers, the Gosport Independent Panel found.

Dr Jane Barton, who oversaw prescribing on the wards, was found guilty by a tribunal of serious professional misconduct in 2010.

However, she was not struck off the medical register, choosing to retire after the findings were published.

In a statement in 2018, she said she was a "hard-working doctor" who was "doing her best" for patients in a "very inadequately resourced" part of the NHS.

You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.