Editing Harold Shipman (section)

==Aftermath==
In January 2001, [[Chris Gregg]], a senior [[West Yorkshire Police]] detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths.<ref>{{cite news |title=How many more did Shipman kill? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/how-many-more-did-shipman-kill-630689.html |date=9 October 2001 |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=19 September 2009 |location=London }}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Following this, ''The Shipman Inquiry'', submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). [[Janet Smith (judge)|Janet Smith]], the judge who submitted the report, said that there were further deaths about which there was so little evidence that a conclusion on whether they were unlawful killings could not be reached. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.<ref name="shipman inquiry">{{cite report|title=The Shipman Inquiry - Conclusions|url=http://www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.uk/6r_page.asp?ID=3401 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413134928/http://www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.uk/6r_page.asp?ID=3401|section=Section 24|archive-date=13 April 2010|publisher=The Shipman Inquiry}}</ref>

In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early stage of his medical career at [[Pontefract General Infirmary]]. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250.<ref name="shipman inquiry"/><ref name="killed early">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4210581.stm |work=BBC News |title=Shipman 'killed early in career'|date=27 January 2005}}</ref>

The GMC charged six doctors who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims with misconduct on the grounds that they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths; they were all found not guilty. In October 2005 the GMC found two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994 guilty of serious professional misconduct for failing to report their concerns and for giving misleading evidence to the Shipman inquiry.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Dyer | first=Owen | title=Consultants who misled Shipman inquiry are found guilty of misconduct | journal=British Medical Journal | volume=331 | issue=7524 | url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1283221/}}</ref> ''The Shipman Inquiry'' recommended changes to the structure of the GMC.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4081425.stm |title=Shipman report demands GMC reform |date=9 December 2004|work=BBC News}}</ref>

In 2005, it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4357193.stm|title=Theft fears over 'Shipman gems'|work=BBC News|date=17 March 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/4446593.stm|title=Twenty make Shipman jewels claims|work=BBC News|date=15 April 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/aug/31/shipman.uknews|title=Shipman's stolen gems found in his wife's jewellery box|newspaper=The Guardian|date=31 August 2005|access-date=16 August 2017}}</ref> Unidentified items were handed to the [[Assets Recovery Agency]] in May.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4574147.stm|title=Shipman jewels not going to widow|work=BBC News|date=24 May 2005}}</ref> The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and [[auction]]ed 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4197812.stm|work=BBC News|title=Shipman stole victim's jewellery|date=31 August 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/shipman/Story/0,,1559544,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Shipman's stolen gems found in his wife's jewellery box|date=31 August 2005 | location=London | access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref> The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided a photograph as proof of ownership.
[[File:Garden of Tranquility - geograph.org.uk - 1005040.jpg|thumb|Garden of Tranquillity in 2007]]
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of Tranquillity, opened in [[Hyde, Greater Manchester#Leisure|Hyde Park, Hyde]], on 30 July 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4731119.stm |title=Garden tribute to Shipman victims |date=30 July 2005|work=BBC News}}</ref> As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://alexanderharris.co.uk/article/Nurse_convicted_of_murder_of_two_patients_by_lethal_injection_2588.asp |title=Alexander Harris, the law firm who represented families of victims of Allitt and Shipman |date=25 August 2006 |publisher=Alexander Harris |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930061847/http://alexanderharris.co.uk/article/Nurse_convicted_of_murder_of_two_patients_by_lethal_injection_2588.asp |archive-date=30 September 2006 }}</ref> In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction,<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8275479.stm|title=Shipman prison letters to be sold|publisher=BBC |work=BBC News|date=27 September 2009 |access-date=27 September 2009}}</ref> but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8295005.stm|title=Shipman letters removed from sale|date=7 October 2009|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=2 October 2011}}</ref>

===Shipman effect===
The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the ''Shipman Inquiry'' report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk overprescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5252902.stm|title='Shipman effect' harms pain care|date=7 August 2006|access-date=23 December 2014|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30192721|title=Shipman effect: How a serial killer changed medical practice forever|last=Queiro|first=Alicia|date=1 December 2014|work=BBC News|access-date=23 December 2014}}</ref> Death certification practices were altered as well.<ref>{{cite web|title=Consultation Paper on Death Certification, Burial and Cremation|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/01/26131024/4|website=Scottish Government|access-date=23 December 2014|date=27 January 2010}}</ref> Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/697075/cremation-form-1-app-for-cremation-of-body.pdf|date=October 2017|title=Application for cremation of the body of a person who has died |access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref>

As of 1 December 2023, Shipman, also nicknamed "Dr. Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to have been convicted of murdering patients, although other doctors, such as Isyaka Mamman,<ref>{{cite news |date=4 July 2022 |title=Oldham doctor admits killing patient in botched routine procedure |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-62039156 |access-date=6 December 2023}}</ref> have been [[acquitted]] of similar crimes or convicted of lesser charges<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1431104.stm|title=Shipman known as 'angel of death'|date=9 July 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=James |last=Stovold |url=http://www.strangerinblood.co.uk/html/case.htm |title=The Case of Dr. John Bodkin Adams |publisher=Strangerinblood.co.uk |access-date=4 June 2010 |archive-date=2 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902093955/http://www.strangerinblood.co.uk/html/case.htm |url-status=usurped }}</ref> and nurses such as [[Lucy Letby]], [[Beverley Allitt]], [[Colin Norris]], [[Benjamin Geen]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Boffey |first1=Daniel |last2=reporter |first2=Daniel Boffey Chief |date=31 July 2023 |title=New evidence claimed to undermine nurse's conviction for killing patients |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/jul/31/new-evidence-claimed-to-undermine-nurse-benjamin-geen-conviction-for-killing-patients |access-date=6 December 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> and [[Victorino Chua]] have also been convicted of murdering patients in their care.<ref>{{cite web |date=20 August 2023 |title=Carers who kill: Letby joins gruesome list of medical monsters from Shipman to Allitt |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/beverley-allitt-parole-harold-shipman-lucy-letby-trial-b2396274.html |access-date=6 December 2023 |website=The Independent }}</ref>