HEALTH chiefs launched an inquiry amid fears that the death of a patient with learning difficulties could have been prevented, the Daily Echo can reveal.

But bosses at Southampton General Hospital say the investigation has found that the death was not the result of any failings in clinical care.

The inquiry was held after Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust was strongly criticised for the way it had failed to investigate unexpected deaths.

Some of those who died had also been treated by the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation (UHS), which runs the hospital.

A report prepared in advance for a UHS board meeting said associate medical director Neil Pearce examined the care received by 24 Southern Health patients admitted to the hospital, all of whom had learning difficulties.

It added: “In one case there was felt to be potentially avoidable features which require a full investigation and this has been commenced.”

But a UHS spokesman said Mr Pearce had already concluded his inquiry.

He added: “After talking to the staff involved, discussing the patient’s history and re-evaluating the notes, we were able to establish that the case was appropriately managed at the time in light of the patient’s frailty, other chronic health issues and lack of capacity.”

The spokesman confirmed that the death was previously classed as potentially avoidable but said the judgement had been revised following the investigation.

No details about the patient, or the circumstances surrounding his or her death, have been revealed.

The decision to hold an inquiry was praised by Mencap, which says an investigation should always be held when someone with learning difficulties dies in hospital.

Citing the main findings of the report into Southern Health, a Mencap spokesman said: “Where investigations were carried out they were of poor quality and took too long to complete. The trust didn’t adequately involve the families and there was a lack of relevant learning from the deaths.”

But the spokesman warned the problem went “much further” than Southern Health.

He added: “Recent data has found that NHS hospitals investigated just one in seven deaths of people with a learning disability since 2011.“Many families are being left with fundamental questions about why their loved one died, whether there should have been an investigation and whether their death could have been avoided.

“The lack of urgency to tackle this national scandal is unacceptable.”