Mr Griffin paid tribute to relatives who had shared their personal experiences saying they had acted with “confidence, courage and expressions of love”.
Lynda Costerd, the daughter of Geoff Toms, was one of those giving evidence. She described her father’s experience on Beech Ward at Rochford Hospital, an older person’s mental health unit.
He died in May 2015 and she says he was on the ward for less than 6 days, external, when he suffered injuries.
“He was basically put in a chair, and they would take his walker away from him, so that he couldn’t get up and move, so much so, they put him in nappies… even though he wasn’t incontinent,” she said.
Ms Costerd believed he was becoming malnourished, and said he was so thin that “you could see his pacemaker”.
She explained how Mr Toms had broken his nose during falls on the ward.
She also said he had two black eyes and bruising to his face and looked like “he had been mugged”.
Ms Costerd said her mother told medical staff Mr Toms needed to see a doctor.
But she said they replied: “It doesn’t work like that. You can’t just say you want a doctor.”