A HAMPSHIRE woman has written to the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary calling for an investigation into the death of her sister.

Jo Deering, from New Milton, died aged 52  in 2011 while she was in the care of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

But her sister Maureen Rickman said there are still questions to be answered and she has now written to Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock asking for help.

It comes as Ms Rickman, a teacher from New Milton, was one of the five families who last month withdrew from a public investigation into Southern Health after saying they lost trust in the process.

As reported, the investigation started earlier this week after a report found “significant, serious and deeply regrettable failures” by the trust in the past.

The NHS previously said it remains committed to ensuring any lessons are identified and learnt.

But Ms Rickman,60, is now calling on the Prime Minister to launch an “independent investigation”.

In her letter she claimed Southern Health failed  to carry out “honest and transparent investigations” into  the death of her sister Jo.

She also said the trust failed to acknowledge “the failings that led to a death that was entirely preventable”.

Ms Rickman also claimed some information about Jo was omitted in reports published by the trust after her death.

In her letter to the Prime Minister Ms Rickman said: “Like other families, my family has been left, quite literally, without any formal acknowledgement of the circumstances of a death that was entirely preventable – that is not acceptable, and neither is the fact that we have been left in this interminable and unresolved purgatorial state for almost 10 years. For these reasons I am calling upon the authority of the Prime Minister and requesting that you please intervene on behalf of my family and authorise a genuinely independent investigation into the death of my sister, Jo Deering. For the closure and the peace of mind this would bring to our troubled lives, we would be eternally grateful. “

As previously reported, the investigation which began on March 4 will look into Southern Health policy including communication and handling of complaints.

A spokesperson for Southern Health said the trust will comment after the investigation is concluded.

An NHS spokesperson said: “Following his independent reportin February 2020, Nigel Pascoe QC is leading a further independent review into Southern Health, which started in public this week. This will consider whether the Trust has implemented recommendations from previous reviews and investigations and identify any further improvements that can be made.”

Both the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary have been approached for comment.