Three North East families have joined together to renew calls for a public inquiry into failings at the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Trust.
Between June 2019 and February 2020, teenagers Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore all died while inpatients under the care of TEWV.
Christie and Emily were both from County Durham, while Nadia was from Middlesbrough.
Go here for the latest NHS news and breaking North East public health news
Christie and Nadia were both just 17 when they took their own lives at West Lane Hospital in Teesside in June and August 2019 respectively, while Emily - previously also a patient at West Lane - had just turned 18 and spent just a single week at Lanchester Road Hospital in County Durham before her death in February 2020.
Now all three of the girls' families have joined together with the Rebuild Trust campaign. They have set up a Change.org petition and a crowdfunding campaign to raise awareness of what they see is an urgent need for a public inquiry.
Christie's dad Michael Harnett - who lives in Newton Aycliffe - told ChronicleLive : "For us, the only way forward is to push for a public inquiry into the Trust. We have tried everything else."
Casey Tremain, Christie's grandmother, added: "We have had all the meetings with the CEO, with board members, with the CQC. But TEWV are still being given inadequate ratings, and we don't think anything has changed.
"We still have complaints about how Christie was treated that have never been dealt with."
Michael said the family had raised concerns about supervision, staff culture and even the way Christie was searched.
In December 2021, a targeted CQC inspection found that the "forensic inpatient" wards run by the Trust remained "inadequate".
Pointing to the fact that Christie's situation was not a unique one, Michael continued: "Other families have been putting in complaints for as long as we have. Emily's dad David had been protesting outside the hospital since before Christie died. He was scared they were going to send her home to die."
He said he hoped the renewed campaign would "shine a light" on mental health issues more generally - and he said: "We are getting families coming forward to us with stories from other areas, too. It's not just one Trust or one hospital. We're hopeful - going into this we're hopeful it will happen. Things have to change."
The TEWV Trust is currently subject to an independent investigation commissioned by NHS England - while West Lane Hospital, though it was closed by the CQC - has since reopened under the new name of Acklam Road Hospital with an entirely different staff under the management of the neighbouring Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust.
The hospital had closed in 2019.
In the past, the Moore family - who live in Shildon - have spoken of their need for answers too. Emily's dad David said: "I have always had concerns with the TEWV trust (but) because of where we live, we have got to go with them.
"I'm devastated, I'm let down, I'm angry.
"She was wonderful, brilliant, bright, intelligent, everything was good, but she thought more about others than herself sadly."
As recently as February, a senior Teesside coroner told the Trust to improve, while a month earlier, Thornaby councillor and former TEWV staff member Coun Ray Godwin who spent almost 30 years working for the trust, revealed, as reported by Teesside Live, how he he blew the whistle on troubles at mental health facilities in the area.
He left the organisation in October last year and flagged up failings and problems on TEWV's forensic wards to watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The December CQC inspection nine forensic inpatient wards and found issues persisted.
Its inspection report stated: "Patients told us that some staff were disrespectful to them and used derogatory terms, and we viewed one incident of abuse by a member of staff towards a patient on CCTV footage.
"Some patients told us their needs were not being met by staff, including some of their physical health needs.”
Issues around feedback, staff being respected and a "toxic culture" were also highlighted. The Trust has said staffing issues were a key reason behind this, and said it was working to improve - including through an organisational restructure.
Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald is among those to previously have called for a public inquiry into TEWV. In March 2021 he wrote to then Health Secretary Matt Hancock urging him to intervene, saying he had "lost confidence" in the NHS Trust.
Brent Kilmurray, chief executive at TEWV said: "Our hearts go out to the families and friends of Nadia, Christie and Emily for the loss they have suffered, and we are deeply sorry.
"We are fully cooperating with an independent investigation, commissioned by NHS England and Improvement.
"Since 2019 we have made significant changes both in personnel and how we treat those in our care. We know compassion and respect needs to be at the centre of everything we do.
"However, there remain challenges to overcome, not least in changing our culture and relieving staffing pressures. These are not quick fixes and come at a time when the demand for mental health services across the country is peaking.
"We know what needs to be done and I promise the families that we are working extremely hard to deliver the changes they have every right to expect."
Follow these links to find out more about the Rebuild Trust campaign, the group's Change.org petition, and the JustGiving site.
