Ministers have bowed to pressure to hold an independent inquiry into how hospital worker David Fuller serially abused female corpses in mortuaries for over 12 years. Announcing the review, the health secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “We have a responsibility to everyone affected by these shocking crimes to do right by those we’ve lost, and those still left behind in their shock and their grief.” He revealed police had so far confirmed that Fuller abused 100 corpses in Kent hospitals between 2008 and 2020, including 81 who had so far been identified. Javid apologised to the families and friends of the victims and set out tighter security arrangements for mortuaries. He said: “Even as we look into exactly what happened, as the secretary of state for health and social care, I want to apologise to the friends and families of all the victims for the crimes that were perpetrated in the care of the NHS and for the hurt and suffering they are feeling.” Tougher security in mortuaries will include hospitals ensuring they have CCTV in place and controlled access arrangements. Javid also announced a review of the punishments for abusing corpses. He said: “The justice secretary will be looking at whether the penalties that are currently available for such appalling sexual offences are appropriate.” The scale of Fuller’s offences began to emerge last week after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting and murdering Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells in 1987. Ahead of his trial, he had pleaded guilty to 51 mortuary offences in two hospitals where he worked as an electrician. They were Kent and Sussex hospital and its replacement, Tunbridge Wells hospital. Kent police confirmed that there had been 403 calls by Monday morning to a phone line set up for people with information about the investigation. Fuller’s abuse of corpses prompted the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS trust to commission an independent investigation. Last Friday, the prime minister’s spokesperson refused to commit to a full inquiry and said they would wait for the NHS trust inquiry to conclude. The government changed tack after local MPs including the former minister Greg Clark, Kent’s police commissioner, Matthew Scott, and families of the victims backed calls for an independent investigation. Javid said: “Given the scale and the nature of these sexual offences, I believe that we must go further. And so today I can announce that I am replacing the trust investigation with an independent inquiry. “The inquiry will look into the circumstances surrounding the offences committed at the hospital and then national implications. It will help us understand how these offences took place without detection in the trust; identify any areas where early action by this trust was necessary; and then consider wider national issues, including for the NHS.” The inquiry will be chaired by Sir Jonathan Michael, a former hospital chief executive, who had been chairing the trust’s inquiry. Michael has been asked to report its interim findings in the new year. Javid said a second, final report would look at the broader national picture and the wider lessons for the NHS and for other settings. Labour welcomed the review. The shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, called for the families affected to be able to access to all the psychological counselling and support they need. Ashworth offered cross-party cooperation on the inquiry. He said: “When our loved ones are admitted into the hands of medical care, it’s done so on the basis of a bond of trust that our loved ones will be cared for when sick and will be accorded dignity in death. That bond of trust was callously ripped apart here. So can I offer to work with the secretary of state to ensure something so sickening as this never happens again.” Clark, the MP for Tunbridge Wells, praised Javid for responding to his call for a public inquiry. He said: “It does go beyond the local. In the last four years, there have been over 30 incidents of unauthorised people entering mortuaries in NHS hospitals.” The inquiry was also welcomed by Centre for Women’s Justice, which is supporting Nevres Kemal, whose daughter Azra, 24, died in July 2020 and whose body was repeatedly raped by Fuller in Tunbridge Wells mortuary. In a statement it said: “We also welcome the proposed review of sentencing for necrophilia. We applaud the courage of Nevres Kemal who spoke out after she was provided with the horrific news of her daughter, Azra’s bodily violation. We hope that the families of the identified victims will be given adequate opportunity to input into the inquiry announced and receive any answers they are looking for.”