'Ideal patient medicated to just above a coma': What doctor told nurse at scandal-hit mental health hospital where more than 2,000 inpatients died, inquiry hears

Published: 16:14, 9 July 2026 | Updated: 16:15, 9 July 2026 A former NHS mental health nurse has told a public enquiry into the deaths of thousands of patients at inpatient mental health units how a doctor said: ‘The ideal patient is one medicated to just above a coma.’ Stuart Ayris, who worked as a registered mental health nurse for 27 years, also said the apathy among staff was ‘astonishing’. He described how he had begun to feel ‘ashamed’ at the way colleagues ‘shut themselves’ away in an office to avoid helping patients. Mr Ayris revealed he raised concerns in a serious incident report he wrote following the death of an inpatient back in 2008 but was disciplined and moved into a different role. The Lampard Inquiry is examining more than 2,000 deaths of people who were admitted to mental health units in Essex between 2000 and 2023. Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), which is the focus of the inquiry in London, has apologised and claimed staffing and care have been ‘transformed’. Mr Ayris, the first former member of staff to give evidence, told the hearing yesterday how he had worked as a ward manager at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford between 2003 and 2009. Outlining concerns about overmedication, particularly at night, he mentioned a doctor who said: ‘The ideal patient is one medicated to just above a coma.’ Stuart Ayris, who worked for Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, described 'over-medication' of patients and 'apathy' among staff The comment was later dismissed as not being literal. Patients were frequently left waiting for doctors to decide what to do with them and staff avoided talking to them or trying to learn more about them, Mr Ayris said. Colleagues would hide in offices with the doors closed and resisted requests to spend more time on the wards, he added, saying: ‘Some people either didn't want to do that or they'd had enough of doing that.’  Explaining the lack of engagement with patients left him feeling ‘ashamed’, he told the inquiry: ‘It just felt the level of apathy was astonishing, to be honest.' Other issues at the Linden Centre included an inappropriate focus on protecting the organisation if something went wrong, instead of on care and compassion. Patients' personal belongings were taken away from them if they self-harmed, which he described as punitive, while introducing changes to reduce risks only happened after serious incidents. Mr Ayris also criticised ‘conflict-driven, arrogant and aggressive’ management, with senior members sometimes speaking about staff in a derogatory manner. He wrote the serious incident report following the death of Ben Morris, 20, who was found dead in his room just after Christmas 2008. My Ayris was giving evidence at the Lampard Inquiry in London, which is looking into more than 2,000 deaths of mental health inpatients at the trust between 2000 and 2023 The hearing was addressed in February by Mr Morris’s mother, Lisa, who was instrumental in pushing for a full judge-led public inquiry. She said that she ‘strongly believed’ that her son ‘was strangled by someone else and then it was all passed through as a suicide’. Ms Morris and the counsel for the Lampard Inquiry, Rachel Troup, have claimed the mental health trust tried to ‘silence and discredit’ her the more she found out about her son's care. Mr Ayris said many of the issues he raised in his report had been flagged up previously. Describing how he was disciplined and pushed into an administrative role after handing it over to bosses, he said: ‘People that spoke up, like myself, didn't have great careers.’ He went on to work at The Lakes in Colchester between 2014 and 2016 where he warned about problems including illegal drugs on wards, gaps in staff training, bed shortages, poor family involvement and insufficient record-keeping. Improvements following serious incident investigations were not always adopted, Mr Ayris added. EPUT chief executive Trevor Smith said: ‘As the inquiry progresses, there will be many accounts of people who were much loved and missed over the past 24 years and I want to say how sorry I am for their loss. Ben Morris, 20, died in 2008. His mother, Lisa, was instrumental in pushing for a full judge-led public inquiry ‘Care and staffing on our wards has been transformed... to ensure patients receive personally tailored therapeutic care to meet their individual needs.’ More than 300 new roles had been created, including consultants, nurses, psychologists and activity co-ordinators, he added. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.