Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2017

Sharon Halliwell

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2017-0319, written 4 Aug 2017. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report4 Aug 2017
Reference2017-0319
DeceasedSharon Halliwell
CoronerJennifer Leeming
Coroner areaManchester (West)
CategoryHospital Death (Clinical Procedures and medical management) related deaths · Suicide (from 2015)
Organisation namedNorth West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust · Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses published1

The report

Text extracted from the PDF text layer. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.

REGULATION 28:  REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS (1) 

NOTE: This form is to be used after an inquest. 

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS 

THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO: 

1.  The Chief Executive, North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation 

Trust, Hollins Park House, Hollins Lane, Winwick, Warrington  WA2 8WA 

1  CORONER 

I  am  M  Jennifer  Leeming,  HM  Senior  Coroner  for  the  Coroner  Area  of 
Manchester West. 

2  CORONER’S LEGAL POWERS 

I make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice 
Act 2009 and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 
2013. 

3 

INVESTIGATION and INQUEST 

On the 24th April 2017 I commenced an investigation into the death of Sharon 
Ann Halliwell, 48  years, born 28th February 1969.   The investigation concluded 
at the end of the Inquest on 31st July 2017.   

The medical cause of death was:- 

Suspension by Ligature 

The conclusion of the Inquest was Suicide. 
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH 

On the 18th of April 2017 Sharon Ann Halliwell was found deceased at her home 
address at 
.  The cause of her death was determined to 
be suspension by ligature.  On the 7th of February 2017 she had been triaged at 
the  Improving  Access  to  Psychological  Therapies  Service  and  had  given 
information  that  indicated  that  she  was  at  risk  of  suicide.    On  the  18th  of 
February 2017 she had a mental health assessment that indicated that she had 
been at high risk of suicide during the preceding two weeks.  It was determined 
that  she  should  be  referred  to  a  psychiatrist,  but  the  referral  was  not  made.   
Particularly,  although  both  the  triage  and  the  mental  health  assessment  were 
carried  out  by  departments  of  the  North  West  Boroughs  Healthcare  NHS 
Foundation Trust there was a lack of connectivity, described in the Inquest as “a 
gap” between the systems of the two services which meant that the information 
obtained  at  the  triage  on  the  7th  of  February  2017  was  not  accessed  by  the 
February. 
assessment  on 
nurse 

the  18th  of 

carrying  out 

the 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5  CORONER’S CONCERNS 

Whilst other issues addressed in evidence had been addressed by the Trust the 
issue of lack of connectivity as described had not been fully addressed. 

6  ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN 

In  my  opinion  urgent  action  should  be  taken  to  prevent  future  deaths  and  I 
believe that you have the power to take such action. 

7  YOUR RESPONSE 

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this 
report, namely by the 29th of September 2017.  I, the Coroner, may extend the 
period. 

Your  response  must  contain  details  of  action  taken  or  proposed  to  be  taken, 
setting out the timetable for action. Otherwise you must explain why no action 
is proposed. 

8  COPIES and PUBLICATION 

I have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the following 
Interested Persons:- 

1. 

I am also under a duty to send the Chief Coroner a copy of your response.  

The  Chief  Coroner  may  publish  either  or  both  in  a  complete  or  redacted  or 
summary form.  

He  may  send  a  copy  of this  report  to  any  person  who  he  believes  may  find  it 
useful or of interest. You may make representations to me, the coroner, at the  
time of your response, about the release or the publication of your response by 
the Chief Coroner. 

9  Dated 

Signed 

4th August 2017 

M Jennifer Leeming, HM Area Coroner 

2

Responses

1 response published against this report on judiciary.uk. A response is a body's written reply to the coroner's concerns; publication is at the discretion of the Chief Coroner's office, so an absent response does not mean nobody replied.

Response from North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Trust (PDF)
Chief Executive’s Office    

Hollins Park House 
Hollins Park 
Hollins Lane 
Warrington 
WA2 8WA 

Tel: 01925 664001 
Fax: 01925 664052 

Email:  

Our Ref:  INQ/17/686 
Your ref:  MJL/YD/1470-2017 

29 September 2017 

M Jennifer Leeming 
HM Senior Coroner 
HM Coroner’s Court 
Paderborn House 
Howell Croft North 
Bolton 
BL1 1QY 

Dear Ms Leeming 

Re:  Sharon Ann Halliwell (deceased) 

Thank you for your letter of 4 August 2017, received on 8 August 2017, regarding the 
concerns you raised following the inquest into the death Sharon Ann Halliwell, which 
was heard on 31 July 2017. 

You expressed concern that there was a lack of connectivity between two electronic 
care systems employed by the Trust, known as RiO and IAPTUS. These systems are 
used  by  the  clinical  teams  to  record  service  user  records  in  line  with  the  Trust’s 
record  keeping  policy.    During  the  inquest  you  identified  that  there  was  a  gap 
between these two systems, meaning that information obtained from a service user 
during triage by the mental health nurses may not be available to the another nurse 
when completing a further assessment several days later.  

I acknowledge this concern and can now advise you of the actions which have been 
undertaken in this regard. 

  A  “theme  of  the  week”  communication  has  been  shared  across  the 
organisation  to  ensure  that  this  learning  is  embedded.  These  themes  are 
generated from learning identified from incidents, near misses and complaints 
and are disseminated to all staff  each week in the Trust’s e-bulletin, which is 
called  In  View.  To  ensure  all  staff  are  made  aware  of  the  learning  identified, 
the topics highlighted  in  this  way  also form  part of  the  agenda at  local Team 
Meetings as part of the Core Brief to all staff.  The Assistant Clinical Directors 
for  each  of  the  Boroughs  will  seek  assurance  that  this  has  been  raised  with 
each of the clinical teams across the organisation as they occur across 

5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has changed its name to  
North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 
Chairman: Helen Bellairs        Chief  Executive: Simon Barber 
Trust Headquarters, Hollins Park House, Hollins Lane, Winwick, Warrington, WA2 8WA 
Switchboard: 01925 664000 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 October 2017.    IAPT staff  have  also  received  RiO  training  to  enable  them  to 
check for key clinical activity.   

  The RiO and IAPTUS patient information systems are not integrated and due 
to  their  composition  it  is  not  possible  to  wholly  integrate  them  into  one 
electronic care record.  However, there is the option of applying a ‘flag’ system 
to  the  record  of  both  RiO  and  IAPTUS  which  would  alert  the  clinician  that  a 
service user is open to care from another team within the Trust.  This function 
is currently being developed by the Trust’s Information Technology team  who 
are aiming to have a solution designed, built, tested and implemented by the 
end of March 2018. 

 

In  addition  to  this,  the  Trust  will  amend  all  appropriate  Standard  Operating 
Procedures  by  March 2018  to  ensure that  where  clinicians  identify  a  red flag 
alert, they contact the relevant clinical team and ensure that they have all the 
clinical information they require in relation to risk and ongoing treatment plans. 

  Finally,  as  not  all  of  the  IAPT  team  services  within  the  Trust’s  footprint  are 
provided  by  North  West  Boroughs  Healthcare  NHS  Foundation  Trust  there 
needs  to  be  an  additional  mechanism  in  these  areas  for  clinicians.    In  this 
respect,  these  clinicians  will  be  made  aware  of  the  ‘theme  of  the  week’ 
learning,  and  to  ask  all  patients  if  they  are  receiving  any  support  for  their 
mental health needs from any other agency. This action will also be added to 
the  Standard  Operating  Procedures  as  above  and  monitored  for  compliance 
via the usual monitoring arrangements.    

If I can be of any further assistance, or if you require further information, please do 
not hesitate to contact me.  

Yours sincerely  

Mr Simon J Barber  
Chief Executive  

5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has changed its name to  
North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 
Chairman: Helen Bellairs        Chief  Executive: Simon Barber 
Trust Headquarters, Hollins Park House, Hollins Lane, Winwick, Warrington, WA2 8WA 
Switchboard: 01925 664000

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