FOUR non-executive directors of crisis-hit Southern Health have left the organisation, it announced today.

The quartet – Jon Allen, Malcolm Berryman, Judith Smyth and Trevor Spires - were heavily criticised over their role overseeing Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust during the scandal that saw it fail to properly investigate hundreds of deaths of patients.

The scandal saw the ignominious departure of chief executive Katrina Percy.

Longstanding critic of Southern Geoff Hill, from Southampton, said today: “This is news that bereaved families, service users and other campaigners have been waiting for for 12 months and their resignations were long overdue.

“At the last boards meeting several people asked the non-executive directors to find their consciences and possibly some of them have.

“It’s one of a number of major changes that I understand will be announced over the next month or two.”

The statement by the interim trust chairman, Alan Yates, said today : “Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust has completed its Clinical Services Review; a strategy review for its mental health and learning disability services as well as an assessment of developments in its provision of community physical health services.

"Further details of the review’s findings will be available next week.

"They identify developments for those services as well as their organisation and the overall direction provides for a dynamic and positive future.

“In particular, the Board has identified the benefits of much greater inclusion of service users and carers in the organisation as well as the delivery of its services, a systematic quality improvement methodology, the greater integration with primary care, and much greater involvement of clinical staff in the management and organisation of the Trust’s services."