Shipman death rate 'too high' since 1978

Serial killer Harold Shipman was signing abnormally high numbers of patients' death certificates 20 years before he was arrested for murder.

Richard Baker, of Leicester University, told the public inquiry into Shipman's activities that the number of deaths involving his patients were higher than other practices in Hyde, Greater Manchester, for almost every year between 1978 and 1998.

Shipman had issued 499 death certificates during the 20-year period while the highest figure of any other GP in the town was only 210, he said.

Professor Baker's report, compiled after studying Shipman's career, said it was possible that a review of individual cases may have revealed his activities at an earlier stage.

The death rate of Shipman's patients slowed down in the early 1990s, but by 1995 it had climbed again.

Two years on, Shipman recorded a total of 39 deaths, while none of the other five GPs in Hyde reached double figures.

"The analysis made it clear there was a difference between Shipman and other GPs in the number of death certificates issued really dating from 1978 onwards," Prof Baker told the hearing at Manchester town hall yesterday. He said that it was not until he forged a will that an investigation uncovered evidence of murder.

His report concluded that systems for monitoring GPs should be reviewed and extended to check patient death rates.

He also said that it was unacceptable that Shipman did not keep a register of controlled drugs and neither GPs nor pharmacies were required to record drugs in their possession, which he described as a major weakness.

Shipman, 55, was given 15 life sentences last year when he was convicted of the murder of 15 elderly female patients by lethal injection of diamorphine.

The public inquiry into his activities and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 466 of his patients began last week and it is expected to continue for two years.