A HAMPSHIRE-BASED mental health trust has hit back against claims that it failed to investigate the unexpected deaths of 1,000 people.

Findings released in a leaked government report blame Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust for insufficiently examining the deaths of mental health and learning disability patients within the last four years.

But the trust says it has "serious concerns" about how the draft report has interpreted the evidence.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has today issued a "heartfelt apology" to the families affected, saying the Government was "profoundly shocked" by the report.

Report commissioners NHS England say the final version of the independent investigation is due to be published.

The investigation, disclosed to the BBC, wascommissioned by NHS England and carried out by audit firm Mazars and looked at all deaths at the trust between April 2011 and March 2015.

In total 10,306 people had died - including 1,454 unexpected deaths.

The research reveals 272 were treated as critical incidents, of which just 195 - 13 per cent - were treated by the trust as a serious incident requiring investigation (SIRI), the BBC has reported.

The most likely group to see an investigation were adults with mental health problems, where 30 per cent were investigated, it is understood.

But just one per cent of people with learning disabilities were investigated and 0.3 per cent of over 65s with mental health problems, it has been claimed.

The average age at death for learning disability patients was 56 - over seven years younger than the national average, the BBC reports.

The report criticised the trust for "failure of leadership" claiming that investigations carried out were of poor quality and often late, it is understood.

The report is also said to reveal that repeated criticisms from coroners about the timeliness and usefulness of reports provided for inquests by Southern Health failed to improve performance, while there was often little effort to engage with the deceased's families.

But a statement released by the trust, which has its headquarters in Calmore, said: “We would not usually comment on a leaked draft report. However, we want to avoid unnecessary anxiety amongst the people we support, their carers and families as their welfare is our priority.

“There are serious concerns about the draft report’s interpretation of the evidence. We fully accept that our reporting processes following a patient death have not always been good enough. We have taken considerable measures to strengthen our investigation and learning from deaths including increased monitoring and scrutiny.

“The review has not assessed the quality of care provided by the Trust. Instead it looked at the way in which the Trust recorded and investigated deaths of people with whom we had one or more contacts in the preceding 12 months. In almost all cases referred to in the report, the Trust was not the main provider of care.

“We would stress the draft report contains no evidence of more deaths than expected in the last four years of people with mental health needs or learning disabilities for the size and age of the population we serve.

“When the final report is published by NHS England we will review the recommendations and make any further changes necessary to ensure the processes through which we report, investigate and learn from deaths are of the highest possible standard."

The trust urged anyone directly affected by the issue to call the NHS number on 0300 003 0025.

An NHS England spokeswoman said: "We commissioned an independent report because it was clear that there are significant concerns. We are determined that, for the sake of past, present and future patients and their families, all the issues should be examined and any lessons clearly identified and acted upon.

“The final full independent report will be published as soon as possible, and all the agencies involved stand ready to take appropriate action.”