Police weigh manslaughter charges for four stroke patients amid Blackpool hospital scandal
Police told a coroner they may bring manslaughter charges over four deaths on Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s stroke ward, where staff previously jailed for drugging patients.
At Blackpool Victoria Hospital, police are evaluating whether to charge staff with gross negligence manslaughter for the deaths of four patients—Margaret Hamilton, Geoffrey Duckworth, Peter Whittaker and Joan Walker—treated on a stroke unit between 2015 and 2018. The inquiry follows the 2023 imprisonment of nurse Catherine Hudson and healthcare worker Charlotte Wilmot for administering unprescribed Zopiclone to keep patients compliant.
Detectives have also opened investigations into six other deaths, but have found no causal link to ill-treatment. Senior Detective Chief Inspector Mark Dickinson briefed a coroner, noting a team of 26 officers supported by the National Crime Agency and specialist prosecutors. The case adds to a series of scandals at the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which has been criticized for bullying, racial discrimination and a reputation as “the hospital that shames Britain.” The coroner warned that the eight-year delay could affect witness recollection at future inquests.
Why it matters
It raises questions about criminal responsibility for patient safety failures in a repeatedly scandal-plagued NHS trust.
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