Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2017

Trevor Curry

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2024-0091, written 17 Mar 2017. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report17 Mar 2017
Reference2024-0091
DeceasedTrevor Curry
CoronerVeronica Hamilton-Deeley
Coroner areaWest Sussex, Brighton and Hove
CategoryHospital Death (Clinical Procedures and medical management) related deaths
Organisation namedSussex 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.

VERONICA HAMILTON-DEELEY DL, 
LL.B. 
Her Majesty's Senior Coroner 
for the City of Brighton &  Hove 

Assistant Coroners 
CATHARINE PALMER LL.B  (HONS) 
KAREN HENDERSON, BSC,BM,MRCPI,FRC __ 
GILVA D.J.TISSHAW, BA(LAW)HONS 

THE CORONER'S OFFICE 
WOODY ALE,  LEWES ROAD 
BRIGHTON 
BN23QB 

Telephone:  Brighton (01273)  292046 
Fax:  Brighton (01273)  29204 7 

CORONERS SOCIETY OF  ENGLAND AND  WALES 

ANNEX A 

REGULATION  28:  REPORT TO  PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS  (1) 

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

THIS  REPORT IS  BEING SENT TO: 

1. 

,  Chief Executive, Sussex Partnership 
NHS  Foundation Trust,  Swandean, Arundel  Road, Worthing.  BN13 3EP 

CORONER 

I am Veronica  HAMILTON-DEELEY,  Senior Coroner,  for the City of Brighton and 
Hove 

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. 

INVESTIGATION and  INQUEST 

On  1yth  June 2016 I commenced an investigation into the death of  Trevor John 
CURRY.  The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on  1yth  March 
2017  .The conclusion of the inquest was a Narrative Conclusion - see attached 
sheet. 

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE  DEATH 
See Record  of Inquest 

CORONER'S CONCERNS 

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed  matters giving rise to 
concern.  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. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

 VERONICA HAMILTON-DEELEY DL, 
LL.B. 
Her Majesty's Senior Coroner 
for the City of Brighton & Hove 

Assistant Coroners 
CATHARINE PALMER LL.B (HONS) 
KAREN HENDERSON, BSC,BM,MRCPI,FRC __ 
GILVA D.J.TISSHAW, BA(LAW)HONS 

THE CORONER'S OFFICE 
WOODY ALE, LEWES ROAD 
BRIGHTON 
BN23QB 

Telephone:  Brighton (01273)  292046 
Fax:  Brighton (01273)  292047 

The MATTERS OF  CONCERN are as  follows.  -

(1)  It is  nationally acknowledged that there are a growing  number of patients in 
both  acute and psychiatric hospitals and  prisoners who have substantial 
mental health  and  physical problems.  This is particularly the case in view of 
the ageing  hospital and  prison  population.  It is therefore incumbent upon 
those caring for such  people to  ensure that they have full  mental  and 
physical  past medical histories. 

In  this particular case at Inquest,  I accepted that the deceased's sister had 
informed the triaging and  admitting staff atthe psychiatric hospital of the fact 
that he was  being seen by the Cardiologist and  was suffering with heart 
problems (i.e.  palpitations).  No note was made of this in  Mr Curry's 
admitting  note.  It should have been. 

In  addition,  the psychiatric trust made no effort to ascertain his full  past 
physical  history until after he had died.  Of course they were not expecting 
him  to  die within 48 hours of admission but that is  not the point.  Enquiries of 
this  nature should  be  made at the earliest opportunity and  if there are no 
reciprocal  IT arrangements then the individual trusts must have 
arrangements between them so that they can  access appropriate history 
speedily. 

This is particularly important in  cases where a patient is  admitted to  a 
psychiatric hospital in  an  agitated,  even  psychotic state and  unable to  give 
an  appropriate history him or herself. 

6 

7 

ACTION  SHOULD BE  TAKEN 

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

YOUR RESPONSE 

You are  under a duty to  respond to this  report within 56  days of the date of this 
report,  namely by gm  June 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. 

2 

 VERONICA HAMILTON-DEELEY DL, 
LL.B. 
Her Majesty's Senior Coroner 
for the City of Brighton & Hove 

Assistant Coroners 
CATHARINE PALMER LL.B  (HONS) 
KAREN HENDERSON, BSC,BM,MRCPl,FRL _ 
GILVA  D.J .TISSHA W,  BA(LA W)HONS 

8 

COPIES and  PUBLICATION 

THE CORONER'S OFFICE 
WOODY ALE, LEWES ROAD 
BRIGHTON 
BN23QB 

Telephone: Brighton (01273)  292046 
Fax:  Brighton (01273)  29204 7 

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

1. 
2. 

Foundation Trust 

,  Head  of Legal  Services,  Sussex Partnership NHS 

3.  Secretary of State for Health,  Department of Health 
4. 
5. 
6. 

 - Chief Executive NHS  England 
 - Sussex Partnership Trust 

 - Millview Hospital 

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 

Date: 

17tn  March  2017 

SIGNED BY: 

1/,ir_~!fKv~(1 

Senior Coroner Brighton  and 

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 Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (PDF)
A member of: 
Association  of UK University Hospitals 

IE(CfE ~VfE [)j
12 

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Sussex Partnership 
NHS  Foundation Trust

1 June 2017 

Miss Veronica  Hamilton-Deeley LLB 
Her Majesty's Senior Coroner for the City of Brighton & Hove 
The Coroner's Office 
Woodvale 
Lewes Road 
Brighton 
BN2 3QB 

Trust HQ
Swandean
Arundel  Road
Worthing
West Sussex 
BN13 3EP 

Dear Miss Hamilton-Deeley 

Re:  The late Mr Trevor John Curry 

Thank you for your letter of 20 March 2017,  enclosing your report written  under Paragraph 
7,  Schedule 5 of The Coroners & Justice Act 2009 and  Regulations 28 and 29 of the 
Coroner's (Investigations)  Regulations 2013,  a copy of the text of the whole rule and  the 
Record of Inquest. 

Firstly,  may I offer my sincere condolences to  Mr Curry's family on their tragic loss. 

This  letter  is  intended  to  set  out  the  learning  and  actions  we  have  taken  at  Sussex 
Partnership  NHS  Foundation  Trust  following  Mr Curry's  death  and  I  hope  it  provides  you 
and  Mr Curry's family with  assurance that we  have taken the lessons you  have highlighted 
extremely seriously. 

I  am  sorry  the  information  from  Mr  Curry's  sister  that  Mr  Curry  was  being  seen  by  a 
cardiologist and  he was suffering with  palpitations was  not  recorded  in  the  health  records. 
,  General Manager -Acute and  Urgent Care Services for Brighton and  Hove 
drafted  a briefing for staff highlighting  your concerns to ensure the lessons are widespread 
throughout  the  Trust.  The  briefing  and  ongoing  team  meetings  and  clinical  supervision 
sessions have been  used  highlight the importance of good clear documentation in  our new 
electronic  health  records  system.  This  has  assisted  our  learning  and  an  improvement  in 
our recording.  Senior members of staff such  as Ward  Managers  and  Matrons at Mill  View 
the  expected  standards  of 
Hospital  complete  documentation  audits 
documentation are met. 

to  ensure 

In  relation  to  the  timely  requests  for  primary  care  records  and  information  about  our 
patients,  I am  pleased to say a new system  has been  introduced. The new system,  now in 
use is as follows;  The Crisis Resolution and  Home Treatment Team administrators request 
a  copy  of  the  primary  care,  summary  care  record,  or  encounter  report,  from  the  GP 

Head office:  Sussex Partnership NHS  Foundation Trust,  Swandean, Arundel Road, Worthing, West Sussex,  BN13 3EP 

www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk 

A teaching trust of Brighton and  Sussex Medical School 

 
 
 
 
 practice for all  new patients admitted to  Mill View hospital.  This  is  done within  48  hours of 
admission  and  the  administrators  verify  all  new  patient  admissions  at  the  daily  Acute 
Referral  Meeting  (ARM) which  is attended  by the Bed  Manager. The Crisis  Resolution  and 
Home  Treatment  Team  administrators  upload  the  primary  care,  summary  care  record  / 
encounter  report  to  the  Trust's  electronic  health  records  system  'Carenotes'  which  all 
clinical  staff  in  the  Trust  have  access  to.  Laminated  copies  of the  guidance  has  been 
circulated  to the wards  at Mill View Hospital and  it is  displayed for staff as  a  reminder and 
for easy reference.  Please find  enclosed our new Protocol for the Management of Primary 
Care  Clinical  Information  for  all  Patients  admitted  to  acute  inpatient  services  for  your 
information. 

 (Chief Pharmacist) produced guidance for staff regarding the 

In  addition, 
importance of obtaining the primary care,  summary care record, which was distributed to 
Trust staff and taken to staff meetings for sharing and discussion.  Clinicians in  both 
primary and  secondary care can  access summary care records using an  NHS Smartcard, 
once they are set up on the national system. Furthermore, the Trust is currently looking to 
establish an  "opt out" system so that patients in  contact with our services are informed that 
summary care record access will  occur by default unless they specify that it may not, 
(unless a best interest decision needs to be made). 
confirmed that this guidance is  now included in  the induction pack for all  new junior doctors 
joining the Trust. 

 (Chief Pharmacist) has 

The learning from  Mr Curry's death has been included in the Trust's quarterly quality report 
available to all Trust staff and our Clinical Commissioning Groups. 

I  note  your  conclusion  confirmed  that  Mr  Curry's  treatment  and  medications  during  the 
course  of his  admission  were  appropriate  and  made  no  contribution  to  his  sudden  death. 
Nonetheless, we take each and every death very seriously. As a  result of the  lessons from 
your  inquest,  and  as  a  legacy to  Mr Curry,  we  have  learnt from  this,  and  I  hope you  feel 
reassured  that  we  have  introduced  an  achievable  and  improved  system  for  the  acute 
wards  to  obtain  such  important  information  to  assist  us  with  the  care  of our patients.  We 
are  committed  to  continually  learning,  improving  and  strengthening  relationships  with  our 
primary care colleagues for the benefit of our patients and their families and  carers. 

Yours sincerely 

Chief Executive 

Encs. 

Cc. 

 (Non Executive Director) 

2

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