HEALTH Secretary Alan Milburn's conclusion on the report which said that Harold Shipman may have killed up to 297 patients is: "It beggars belief that he got away with it for so long."

How right he is. It is incredible that so many people could die in such similar circumstances without the finger of suspicion being pointed.

Our hearts go out to the families and friends of Shipman's deceased patients. They do not know, and will never know, for certain whether their loved ones died of natural causes or at the hands of a cold and calculating mass murderer.

Regrettably, there is little that can be done to ease their anguish. Only one person - Shipman - can answer all their questions, and he is unlikely to do so.

But there are serious questions which should be answered.

Why was it possible for so many murders to go undetected for so long?

Why did the death rate among Shipman's patients not prompt an investigation?

To coin a phrase, it beggars belief that even a rudimentary vetting procedure, which would have been sufficient to raise doubts about Shipman and probably save the lives of so many people, was not in place.

It beggars belief that in a case so horrific and so blatantly in the public interest, that Alan Milburn insisted for so long that an inquiry into Shipman's activities should be held in private.

And it beggars belief that Mr Milburn added to the strain and distress endured by the relatives by forcing them to go to court to have the inquiry held in public.