The Shipman Inquiry

The Shipman Inquiry was the report produced by a British governmental investigation into the activities of general practitioner and serial killer Harold Shipman. Shipman was caught in 1998 and the inquiry commenced after his trial in 2000. It released its findings in various stages, with its sixth and final report being released on 27 January 2005. It was chaired by Dame Janet Smith DBE.

While Shipman was convicted of 15 murders, the inquiry established that he probably committed 250 in total, though the true number could be more. The inquiry took approximately 2,500 witness statements and analysed approximately 270,000 pages of evidence. In total the six reports ran to 5,000 pages and the investigation cost £21 million.

On 1 February 2000, the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn, announced that an independent private inquiry would take place into Shipman's activities. It would decide what "changes to current systems should be made in order to safeguard patients in the future". Its findings would be made public, though it would be held in private. It was to be chaired by Lord Laming of Tewin.

It began work on 10 March and was to produce a report by September 2000. Many families of the victims along with certain sections of the British media called for a Judicial Review in the High Court. It found in their favour and recommended that the inquiry be held in public. The Secretary of State for Health agreed, and in September 2000 announced that the inquiry would be held under the terms of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921. This was then ratified by both Houses of Parliament in January 2001. Lord Laming was replaced by Smith. Dr Aneez Esmail was medical adviser to the inquiry. Smith initially hoped to finish her inquiries by "Spring of 2003". The inquiry was held in the Town Hall in Manchester with proceedings relayed by closed circuit television to the public library in Hyde, where Shipman had lived, in order for the town's inhabitants to follow it more easily.

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