THE chairman of a controversial mental health trust accused of failing to properly investigate the deaths of hundreds of people with mental health problems and learning difficulties has resigned tonight.

Mike Petter says he is stepping down from his position as chairman of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

But under-fire chief executive Katrina Percy, who has faced repeated calls for her resignation over the past six months, is remaining defiant and said again that she will not quit.

It comes a health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is tomorrow expected to launch the results of a focussed inspection into the trust based in Calmore.

The report is expected to reveal that the trust had failed to make significant improvements despite launching a new system to record deaths following the publication of a damning report accusing it of failing to investigate the deaths of people with mental health problems and learning difficulties.

It also reveals a new raft of condemnation including a series of hazards putting patients at risk including potential ligature anchor points years after they had been warned of their dangers.

The report is expected to reveal that the trust had failed to make significant improvements despite launching a new system to record deaths following the publication of a damning report accusing it of failing to investigate the deaths of people with mental health problems and learning difficulties.

It also reveals a new raft of condemnation including a series of hazards putting patients at risk including potential ligature anchor points years after they had been warned of their dangers.

Earlier this month the CQC had issued a warning notice requiring the trust to improve its governance to ensure robust investigation and leaning from incidents and deaths and reduce future risks to its patients.

It followed the release of a damning independent report in December last year condemning the trust for failing to properly investigate the deaths of people in its care.

In a statement released tonight Mr Petter said: “I have made the very difficult decision to tender my resignation as Chairman of Southern Health.

"The Trust has recently undergone a significant amount of scrutiny in some service areas and given the challenges it faces I feel it is appropriate for me to allow new Board leadership to take forward the improvements.

“I have been involved in Southern Health since the Trust was formed in 2011 as a Non-Executive Director and since August 2015 as Chairman. It is with great sadness that I now leave the organisation. I offer my support and best wishes to all our staff whose dedication and commitment I am continuously impressed by.”

CQC inspectors visited the trust in January as part of an inspection.

In a statement, the CQC said it has issued a warning notice "requiring the trust to improve its governance arrangements to ensure robust investigation and learning from incidents and deaths, to reduce future risks to patients".

Earlier in the year, trust medical director Dr Lesley Stevens insisted they had made “real changes” since the Mazars inquiry, which revealed that of the 10,306 deaths between April 2011 and March, 2015, 722 were categorised as unexpected and only 272 had been investigated.

The trust has been hit by a series of scandals including the family of Winchester University student advisor Louse Locke vowing to take legal action against the trust.

Miss Locke, 44, was found hanging at her home in Highcliffe in May last year - a day after her pleas to be taken to hospital were turned down.

The trust has said it has implemented a series of measures to improve the reporting of deaths and has brought in other changes since Miss Locke's death.

Dr Kathy McLean, executive medical director at NHS Improvement, said: "Patients and service users at Southern Health expect to get safe and good quality care, and it is worrying to see that the CQC have identified patient safety concerns which have still gone unaddressed at the trust.

"The trust needs to ensure that it fixes these issues quickly and that it can spot and quickly mitigate any future risks to patients and service users. If we don't see enough progress on this we will consider taking action on behalf of patients."