Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2018

Enric Elliott

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2018-0300, written 14 Aug 2018. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report14 Aug 2018
Reference2018-0300
DeceasedEnric Elliott
CoronerFiona Wilcox
Coroner areaLondon Inner (West)
CategoryChild Death (from 2015) · Hospital Death (Clinical Procedures and medical management) related deaths
Organisation namedWhittington Health NHS Trust
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses published1

The report

Text recovered by OCR from a scanned PDF. OCR is imperfect: check anything you rely on against the source PDF. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.

REGULATION 28: REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS

THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO:

Ms Siobhan Harrington,

Chief Executive,

Whittington Health NHS Trust
Magdala Avenue

London

N19 SNF

CORONER

| am Dr Fiona J Wilcox, HM Senior Coroner, for the Coroner Area of Inner West London

CORONER’S LEGAL POWERS

| 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.

INVESTIGATION and INQUEST

On the 18" July 2018, evidence was heard touching the death of Enric Albert Alejandro Elliott. Enric had
died on the 24k November 2017 in St Mary's Hospital after being found collapsed and then resuscitated at his
home address on the 20'" November 2018. He was just 5 months old at the time of his death.

The findings of the court were as follows:

Medical Cause of Death

1 (a) Diffuse hypoxic- ischaemic brain injury (aka hypoxic-ischaemic
encephalopathy)
(b) Sudden unexpected death in infancy

How, when and where the deceased came by his death:

On 20/11/2017, Enric was found not breathing by his mother at his home address. LAS was called and he was
resuscitated at the scene. Return of spontaneous circulation was achieved and he was transferred to hospital.
Despite all treatment he died on 24/11/2017 at St Mary’s Hospital of brain injury due to the cardiac arrest. The
cause of the initial arrest is unknown. He was well cared for and there were no suspicious circumstances.
Conclusion of the Coroner as to the death:

Natural Causes

Circumstances of the Death.

Evidence taken at the inquest from Head of Safeguarding at Whittington Health was that Enric’s mother had
not been referred to Family Nurse Partnership because she had booked one week too late at 29 weeks
gestation, referrals only being accepted until 28 weeks gestation, despite Enric’s mother’s young age and
psychosocial vulnerabilities. If such a referral had been made it is likely that Enric’s mother would have agreed
and accepted the extensive support provided by the Family Nurse partnership. It could not be said that such
support would have changed the outcome in this case and in fact Enric’s mother was caring well for her child,
despite her difficult circumstances. Since Enric’s death the rules around gestation and referral have become
more flexible and some mothers who book after 28 weeks may be referred.

Concerns of the Coroner:

1. That young women who book later than 28 weeks can only be considered for referral to the Family

Nurse Partnership, despite the fact that late booking is often a further risk factor indicating increased

vulnerability to the mother and young child.

That late bookers may still be debarred from referral on the basis of gestation.

That such vulnerable mothers are thus excluded from the support offered by the Family Nurse

Partnership and thus their child be at increased risk of death in infancy.

4. That the increased risk to mothers and babies of late booking does not appear to be recognised as a
positive reason supporting referral to the Family Nurse partnership.

en

ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and | believe you [AND/OR your organisation]
have the power to take such action. It is for each addressee to respond to matters relevant to them.

YOUR RESPONSE

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report. 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.

COPIES and PUBLICATION
| have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the following Interested Persons :

1.

Head of Safeguarding,
Whittington Health NHS Trust.

Head of legal Services,

st.

| 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.

14th August 2018

Dr Fiona J Wilcox

HM Senior Coroner

Inner West London
Westminster Coroner’s Court
65, Horseferry Road

London.

SW1P 2ED

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 Whittington Health NHS Trust (PDF)
27 September 2018 .

Dr Fiona J Wilcox
HM Senior Coroner

Whittington ‘Health

NHS Trust

Executive Offices
Magdala Avenue

London

N19 5NF

Web: www.whittington.nhs.uk

Inner West London
Westminster Coroner’s Court
65 Horseferry Road

London

SW1P 2ED

Dear Dr Wilcox

Ref: PFD 14-8-18

Whittington Health NHS Trust response to Regulation 28 Report La Prevent Future
Deaths dated 14 August 2018.

Thank you for raising your concerns regarding the referral criteria for vulnerable young people
into the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) programme. We recognise the importance of the
issues you have raised and we are grateful to you for bringing your concerns to our attention.

As required under our duty to respond to your report dated 14 Auiguse a 2018, we hereby detail
actions taken and those proposed to. be taken in reporise to the concems you have raised. in
your report. These being: .

That young women who book later than 28 weeks [gestation] can [not] only be
considered for referral to the Family Nurse Partnership, despite the fact that late
booking is. often a further risk factor indicating increased vulnerability to the mother and
young child.

That late bookers may still be debarred from referral:on the basis of gestation. :

That such vulnerable. mothers are thus. éxcluded ‘from the support offered by the
Fainily Nurse Partnership and thus their child be at increased risk of death in infancy.

That the increased risk to mothers and babies of late booking does not appear to be
recognised as a positive reason-supporting referral to the Family Nurse Partnership.

The FNP programme is an evidence-based intensive home visiting programme delivered
through a national license for practice to which local providers of the programme are required
to adhere. The programme, which is voluntary for clients to join, includes.a number of-Core
Model Elements that prescribe how the programme should be-delivered to ensure continuous
high clinical quality. The programme is based on over 30 years of rigorous evaluation and is
built upon the theoretical.basis of attachment, self-efficacy and. human ecology. The FNP
programme aims to support young mothers to have a healthy pregnancy; improve their child’s
health and development; and plan their own futures and achieve their aspirations.

UCLPartners __ Helping local people V7
i See Seppo Paare iy live longer healthier

Chair: Steve Hitchins Chief Executive: Siobhan Harrington

Following your PFD, our Trust FNP lead has met with both our local commissioners and the
national FNP Team to agree how we can further implement local flexability to the delivery of
the FNP programme.

In agreement with the national team, we have made a change to our referral criteria so that
mothers up to the age of 25 years old are now accepted into the local programme.

As a result of your PFD, we have agreed that we can consider with the London FNP team, on
a case by case basis, accepting referrals for mothers who are willinging to engage with the
FNP programme when they are referred after 28 weeks gestation, particularly when there are
.a further range of needs, vulnerabilities and issues associated with concealed pregancy.

The national team have clarified with us that one of the Core Model Elements of the FNP
programme is that clients should be recruited to the programme before the 28" week of
pregnancy. This is because the therapeutic relationship takes some time to form, and is the
basis for the important work the nurse and client undertake together; including the importance
of attachment, early-infant development and the promotion of good health and wellbeing
during the antenatal period, alongside usual antenatal services. The FNP programme sets a
further goal that. 60% of all clients should be recruited by the 16" week in pregnancy, giving
such an important window of opportunity for the nurse and client to work towards the important
outcomes within the programme aims as set out above.

When a mother is not able or willing to join the FNP programme, the Trust’s Health Visiting
service will undertake a full assessment of need based on the Healthly Child Programme, and
will ensure that our enhanced Health Visiting programmes — Universal Plus and Universal
Partnership Plus — are activiey offered to families with additional needs and vulnerabilities.
These enhanced service offers, whilst not part of the FNP programme, do provide an
opportunity to work collaborativley with young and vulnerable mothers and their children
delivering similar evidenced based interventions to those offered through the FNP programme.

_ The national FNP team have informed:-us that the issues raised by your PFD are pertinent
because they have taken the opportunity for evidence-based adaptation and testing to explore
offering FNP to mothers later in gestation in certain circumstances, and to test the impact of
this. The national FNP team are undertaking a range of research-based programmes that they
call ADAPT (Accelerated Design and Programme Testing) to test some local personalisation
of the programme. As part of the ADAPT work programme, the team are testing relaxing the
existing 28 week gestation threshold for women, particularly with concealed pregnacies. This
testing will take some time to ensure rigorous evaluation and they anticipate to report on this
and other elements of the ADAPT project next year. ; :

We,'as a local provider of the FNP programme, will continue to work with the national FNP
team to test the impact on programme outcomes for any referrals that happen over 28 weeks
gestation, and we will work with the national team to add to the considerable evidenced base
of the national FNP programme. —. ; ; .

Yours sincerely
Siobhan MOU TOUR
Chief Executive

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