It revealed Shipman targeted vulnerable elderly people who trusted him as their doctor, killing them with either a fatal dose of drugs or prescribing an abnormal amount.

Shipman's case has often been compared to that of doctor John Bodkin Adams; some nurses, such as Beverley Allitt and Lucy Letby, have also been convicted of murdering patients in their care.

[6][7][8] Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own modus operandi: in the later stages of her disease, she had morphine administered at home by a doctor.

[10][11] Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community.

In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the Granada Television current affairs documentary World in Action on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community.

[13] In March 1998, Linda Reynolds, a general practitioner at the Brooke Surgery in Hyde, expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate among Shipman's patients.

Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of diamorphine (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer patients.

[17] Prescription for Murder, a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he felt his life was out of control and wanted to be caught, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK.

They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health.

[19] In 2003, David Spiegelhalter et al. suggested that "statistical monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, when there were 67 excess deaths in females aged over 65 years, compared with 119 by 1998.

"[20] In addition, an abnormally large number of the deaths occurred around the same time of day (when Shipman was on his afternoon visits) and in the doctor's presence.

[26][27] Two years later, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners.

While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible in view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial.

[33] A historian, Pamela Cullen, has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine potential flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.

[37] Some of the victims' families said they felt "cheated", as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a confession, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes.

[38] Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle?

"[39] Shipman's death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to occur.

Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife.

Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, admitted that many more deaths of a suspicious nature could not be definitively ascribed to Shipman.

In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to detect that Shipman had deliberately administered a "grossly excessive" dose of morphine.

[58] In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction,[59] but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.

Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk overprescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing.

[70][71] Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, an ITV television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred James Bolam in the title role.

[72] A documentary also titled Harold Shipman: Doctor Death, with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by ITV as part of its Crime & Punishment strand on 26 April 2018.

[74] A play titled Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry, written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004.

[76] A BBC drama-documentary, entitled Harold Shipman and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014.