Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2019

Jane Livington

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2019-0359, written 4 Oct 2019. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report4 Oct 2019
Reference2019-0359
DeceasedJane Livington
CoronerAled Gruffydd
Coroner areaSwansea Neath & Port Talbot
CategoryMental Health related deaths · Suicide (from 2015) · Wales prevention of future deaths reports (2019 onwards)
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:  
CHIEF EXECUTIVE ABMU HEALTH BOARD 
1 TALBOT GATEWAY  
BAGLAN ENERGY PARK  
BAGLAN 
PORT TALBOT  
SA12 7BR 

1 

CORONER 

I am Aled Gruffydd, Assistant Coroner, for the coroner area of SWANSEA NEATH & 
PORT TALBOT 

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 December 2018 I commenced an investigation into the death of Jane Diane 
Livingston. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on the 30th September 
2019. 

The medical cause of death is 
1a 

pressure of the neck consistent with hanging 

The conclusion of the inquest as to how Ms Livingston came to her death is suicide and 
is as follows:- 

The deceased was pronounced dead on the 23rd of December 2018 at the multi story 
car park on Trawler Road, Swansea. The deceased died from pressure of the neck 
consistent with hanging. The deceased had taken her own life. The deceased had 
suffered with anxiety and depression for twenty years which deteriorated from November 
2018 onwards. The deceased was referred for a Gateway Assessment which placed her 
under the care of the Assessment and Home Treatment Team on the 21/22 December 
2018. The assessment was appropriate and there were no grounds to detain the 
deceased under the Mental Health Act 1983. 

4 

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH 

The deceased was Jane Diane Livingston and she was pronounced dead on the 23rd of 
December 2019 at the multi storey car park on Trawler Road, Swansea. The cause of 
death was suicide after she was found hanging at the above location. 

Jane was receiving treatment for mental illness by the Community Mental Health Team 

1

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 (CMHT) and the Assessment and Home Treatment Team (AHTT). Jane was diagnosed 
as having depression and anxiety. Her condition was managed by her General 
Practitioner for twenty years until her condition deteriorated in November 2018 

Jane was reviewed by a Psychiatrist on the 8th of November and was given a treatment  
plan recommending treatment in the Community. This plan was complied with and Jane 
was discharged from the crisis team on the 26th of November 2018 however remained 
under the care of CMHT. The evidence of the Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) was 
that on the 14th of December 2018 Jane had been reviewed by CMHT, who referred her 
to Cefn Coed Hospital for a gateway assessment that was conducted on the same day 
to determine which pathway her treatment would follow. During that review Jane stated 
that she wanted to be referred as a voluntary patient at hospital since if she was left at 
home she would contemplate suicide. During the gateway assessment this was not 
mentioned and the CPN conducting the gateway assessment was unable to access the 
CMHT review as it had not been uploaded onto the case management system. The 
deceased went on to have further assessments in which the CMHT review subsequently 
became available on the case management system.  

5 

CORONER’S CONCERNS 

During the course of the inquest it was apparent that the deceased’s wishes for hospital 
treatment and the reasons behind the same were not available to the gateway 
assessors on the 14th of December 2018. In this case the deceased underwent further 
assessments therefore the effects of this situation were reduced. I am concerned 
however that in other cases this could result in situations where a patient’s own 
concerns are not addressed or taken into consideration when conducting an 
assessment that could lead to an assessment based on incomplete information and 
result in another patient taking their own life.  In my opinion there is a risk that future 
deaths will occur unless action is taken. In the circumstances it is my statutory duty to 
report to you. 

The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows.  –  

1.  The gateway assessors did not have full access to the notes relating to the 

review and subsequent concerns that triggered the gateway assessment.  This 
may result in the assessors not obtaining the full picture when assessing a 
patient and making a treatment plan based on incomplete information. 

6 

ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN 

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you AND/OR 
your organisation 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 29 November 2019. 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 

.  

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 

2

 
 
      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 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 

4 October 2019 ………………………………. [SIGNED BY CORONER] 

3

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 Swansea Bay University Health Board (PDF)
Bwrdd lechyd Prlfysgol 
Bae Abertawe 
Swansea Bay Univenlty 
Health Board 

gofalu am eln gllydd, ~lthlo, gwella bob amHr 
caring for uch ott.r, working tos,.th•r, alwiliys Improving

Pancadlyll Bwrdd lechyd Prffyagol B•• Abertawe HNdquartlra 

Un Porthfa Talbot, Pare Ynnl, Baglan, Port Talbot, SA12 7BR 

SwanaM Bay Untverelty HNlth Board H ..dquartera 
One Talbot Gateway, Baglan Energy Parle, Port Talbot, SA12 7BR 
Rydym yn croeaawu goheblaeth yn y Gymraeg ac yn y Saeaneg. We welcome correspondence in Welsh or EngHsh. 

Date: 23"' November 2019 

Dear Mr'Gruffydd, 

RE - Regulatlon 28 Response -Jane Livingston 

I write further to your letter dated 4th October 2019, enclosing the Report to Prevent Future 
Deaths following the inquest held into the death of Jane LMngston on 30th  September 2019 
where the conclusion reached was suicide. 

Thank you for providing us with an opportunity to review the Issues that your report raises.  I 
can conflnn that a detailed review of the information in the report has been undertaken by the 
Quality and Safety team for the Mental Health Swansea locality at Swansea Bay University 
Health Board. 

A full Investigation has been conducted into the events of the 14th  December and can be 
outlined below: 

•  The Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) conducted a Duty Assessment on Ms 
LMngston on 14th December 2018 and deemed that Ms Livingston required further 
assessment by the Assessment and Home Treatment Team (AHTT) at Cefn Coed Hospital. 

On completing the duty assessment, the CMHT staff documented the assessment on to 
the eledronic social care system (PARIS). 

I understand that the Coroner's concerns were that this review had not been uploaded 
onto the electronic case management system before the AHTT gatekeeplng 

·Bwrdd lechyd F>rtfyagol Bae Abertawe yw enw gwelthredu Bwrdd lechyd Lleol Prifysgol Bae Abertawe 
Swansea Bay Univeralty Health Board is the operational name of Swansea Bay Unlveralty Local Health Board 

 
 
 
 
 
 assessment. As such, this could create a situation where an assessment takes place 
based on incomplete previous information which presented a risk to patients. 

The Health Board confirms that the PARIS system has been audited during our 
investigation, and can confirm that the CMHT staff accessed the system at 12.29hrs on 
the 14th December 2018 to document the duty assessment conducted on Ms Livingston. 
Please see appendix 1 for assessment. 

Once the duty assessment had been documented, the CMHT staff contacted the AHTT 
team via telephone to arrange the AHTT Assessment (gateway assessment). The 
telephone call involved a verbal summary of the case including the risks identified, 
requesting an AHTT gateway assessment.  The AHTT confirmed acceptance of Ms 
Livingston, and arranged a gateway assessment as an outcome of the telephone call. 
The enquiry was accepted and documented on the PARIS system at 14.13hrs (please 
see appendix 2). 

The AHTT team completed their gateway assessment of Ms Livingston and accessed 
the PARIS system at 14.36hrs to document the visit. Please see appendix 3 for the case 
note entry of this visit and appendix 4 for the assessment. 

The Investigation Into this matter has identified that the entries made during the first 
duty assessment were available for the later gateway assessment. It also identified that 
the assessors in the gateway assessment were aware of Ms Livingston's wishes for 
hospital treatment. The information documented in the gateway assessment 
demonstrates the decision making process in respect of Ms Livingston wish to go to 
hospital, discussing and agreeing treatment options. 

The duty assessment (appendix 1) was available to the AHTT gateway assessors at 
Cefn Coed but unfortunately did not form part of the Coroner's Inquest disclosure. The 
Health Board are extremely sorry for this disclosure omission. 

Actions to ensure patient notes are avallabla to inform subsequent assessment 

•  Confirmation that the process outlined above is the standard process for referring and 
arranging gateway assessments and sharing information between services effectively. 

•  Confirmation that the referral process is documented on the system via the enquiry function 

on the PARIS system. 

•  Confirmation that the PARIS system has the functionality to allow users to access and view 

the system in real time including when It is being edited by another user. 

Bwrdd lechyd Prtfysgol Bae Abertawe yw enw gwelthredu Bwrdd lechyd Lleol Prlfysgol Bae Abertawe 
Swansea Bay University Health Board la the operational name of Swansea Bay University Local Health Board 

 Action to ensure that Coroner has access to all patient records for Inquest 

•  When requesting a copy of mental health notes, a specific request is now also made for all 

PARIS electronic records by the Corporate Legal Team. 

•  The Mental Health Quality and Safety team will identify all the possible locations of patient 
records across mental health Services, this information will be used to develop a checklist, 
which can be used to audit the completeness of records prior those records being disclosed 
to HMC Coroner. This will be completed by 21 81 December 2019. 

I hope that the information provided within this response by the Mental Health and Leaming 
Disabilities Delivery Unit has provided assurance to the HMC Coroner that the risks identified 
in the Regulation 28 report on the death of Jane Livingston are adequately explained, and that 
learning around dlsclosure going forward has been addressed. 

Yours sincerely 

Chief Executive 

Appendices 

1.  CMHT CPA assessment 14/12/2018 

2.  AHTT Enquiry 14/12/2018 

3.  AHTT case note entry 14/12/2018 

4.  AHTT CPA assessment 14/12/2018 

Appendix 1  • CMHT 
assessment 14.12.20 

Appendix 2-AHTT 
enquiry 14.12.2018.f 

Appendix3-AHTT 
case note entry 14.1 

Appendix 4 • AHTT 
CPA assessment  14. 

Bwrdd lechyd Prlfysgot Bae Abertawe 'fN enw gwalthredu Bwrdd lechyd Lleol Prlfyagol Bae Abertawa 
Swanaea Bay University Health Board is the operatlonal name of Swansea Bay University Local Health Board

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