Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2025

Hazel Gambles

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2025-0303, written 17 Jun 2025. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report17 Jun 2025
Reference2025-0303
DeceasedHazel Gambles
CoronerSimon Tait
Coroner areaSouth Yorkshire (East)
CategoryHospital Death (Clinical Procedures and medical management) related deaths
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses published4

The report

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

MS N J MUNDY  
H M CORONER  
SOUTH YORKSHIRE (East District) 

email: 

Date: 17 June 2025 

Case: 

CORONER’S COURT AND OFFICE 
CROWN COURT 
COLLEGE ROAD 
DONCASTER DN1 3HS 

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS 

THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO: 
NHS Foundation Trust 
1. CORONER 

, Chief Executive, Rotherham 

I am Simon Tait, Assistant Coroner for South Yorkshire East 
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. 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/25/schedule/5/paragraph/7 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1629/part/7/made 
3. INVESTIGATION and INQUEST 

On 6 February 2025 I commenced an investigation into the death of Hazel Gambles. The 
investigation concluded at the end of the inquest . The conclusion of the inquest was a 
narrative conclusion that: 

The deceased died as a result of naturally occurring frailty of old age. Her pre-existing 
Alzheimer's disease, coronary artery atherosclerosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary 
disease contributed to her death, as did a head injury sustained during an in-patient fall while 
in hospital. 

1a   Extreme frailty of age 

1b    

1c    

 II    Alzheimer's disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery 
atherosclerosis, recent head injury 
4. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH 

Hazel Gambles suffered a fall at home on 10 January 2025. She was admitted to Rotherham 
District General Hospital. She had not sustained any injuries in the fall at home but was felt to 
have community acquired pneumonia and was admitted for investigation. A falls risk 
assessment was done on admission identifying her as a falls risk, but the falls prevention 

 
  
 
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 measures section of the assessment was not completed, and no such measures were put in 
place. 

On 11 January at 00.18 Mrs Gambles was transferred to Ward B4. According to the Trust 
guidelines, a further falls assessment should have been done within six hours of admission to 
the ward but that did not take place.  At 20.00 she had an unwitnessed fall and was noted to 
have injuries to her face.  At 23.50 a falls risk assessment was done.  The falls prevention 
measures section of the form was not completed. 

At 01.04 Mrs Gambles was reviewed by a doctor. The assessment should have taken place 
sooner given the injuries to her face and the fact that she was on anticoagulation.  The 
request for medical review is recorded in the records but not timed as it should have been. 
Following medical review, a CT scan was undertaken and Mrs Gambles was found to have 
suffered a small bleed on her brain.  This bleed had been sustained in the in-patient fall. Her 
family were told of the fall but were not told about the result of her CT scan, or that she had 
suffered the bleed.  Contrary to Trust policy there was no Datix report submitted in respect of 
the fall, meaning that the fall was not reviewed or investigated at the time. 

On 23 January 2025 Mrs Gambles was discharged to a care home. The discharge letter did 
not mention the in-patient fall.  She died on 27 January 2025.  The head injury sustained in 
the in-patient fall more than minimally contributed to her death. 
5. 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. 

The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows.  – 

There are several areas of concern around failures in documentation and failures to follow 
Trust policy, namely: 

1.  Lying and standing Blood Pressure was not recorded on admission. 
2.  There was no documentation of any falls prevention measures at the time of the first 

falls assessment. 

3.  There is no evidence of falls prevention measures being put in place following the first 

falls assessment. 

4.  There was no falls assessment done at the time of transfer to ward B4. There should 
have been a falls assessment within six hours of transfer but that did not happen. The 
assessment took place some 23 hours after admission to the ward, by which time Mrs 
Gambles had already fallen. 

5.  Following the in-patient fall there was a delay of over 5 hours before a medical review 

took place. The note recording the request for medical review is not timed. 

6.  There was no discussion with Mrs Gambles' family explaining the findings of the CT 

scan and they were not told about the bleed on the brain. 

7.  No Datix report was done following the in-patient fall leading to a delay in investigation. 
8.  The in-patient fall is not mentioned on the Discharge letter. 

I am concerned that these failures suggest a lack of awareness of, and lack of compliance 
with, the Trust’s processes on falls assessment and record keeping. 
6. ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN 

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe 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 12th August 2025. 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 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. 

17 June 2025 

Signature  

  for South Yorkshire East

Responses

4 responses 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 Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust Exhibit 1 Care Group 1 Nic Checklist Updated July 2025 (PDF)
Care Group 1 (Medicine) Nurse in Charge Handover Checklist 

Expectations:  
The Nurse in Charge Handover Checklist must be completed at each Nurse in Charge handover  
Ward Manager to review daily, Matron to review weekly and share at the monthly Quality Meeting with HON/DHON.  
Form to be scanned and saved to the ward shared drive. 
Date: 

Lead From:  

Time:     

Lead To: 

Yes – provide details 

No – what 
action/escalation 

Have staff being allocated to patient areas? (Please 
give details of where staff are allocated and NIC) 

Is the health roster up to date? (State if any sickness 
has occurred, review 24 hours in advance and escalate) 

Has the emergency equipment being checked? 

Is there any Tendable Audits that need completing? 
(Include results below 80% that need to occur weekly) 

Has board round being completed following SHOP 
principles? (Identify lead and attendees, escalations to 
site rep and MOD) 

Is there any referrals that need to be made? (Therapy, 
speciality reviews, dietician, SALT, TVN, admiral nurse) 

Are there any deteriorating patients or patients you are 
concerned about? (discuss NEWS, RESPECT, escalation 
and plan) 

Are there any outstanding jobs on the nursing 
assessment board? 

Identify patients who are MFFD and Golden Patients 
for discharge. 

Has the Criteria to reside being reviewed? 

Has there been any incidents? Have these been 
reported via datix? 

Is there any family meetings/communication needing 
to be arranged or arranged? (including DOC) 

Is there any patient on a DOLS, patients who lack 
capacity or requiring enhanced care supervision and 
have the request forms being sent to MOD inbox? 
Ring the MOD on 8357 to inform them an enhanced 
care has been submitted or at weekend to ring staffing 
8386 
Are there any complex patients identified on the ward 
requiring input from other services? 

CG 1 NIC handover updated July 2025. GS HON, JB DHON, RS Matron. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Care Group 1 (Medicine) Nurse in Charge Handover Checklist 

Expectations:  
The Nurse in Charge Handover Checklist must be completed at each Nurse in Charge handover  
Ward Manager to review daily, Matron to review weekly and share at the monthly Quality Meeting with HON/DHON.  
Form to be scanned and saved to the ward shared drive. 
Date: 

Lead From:  

Time:     

Lead To: 

Yes – provide details 

No – what action/escalation 

Have staff being allocated to patient areas? (Please 
give details of where staff are allocated and NIC) 

Is the health roster up to date? (State if any sickness 
has occurred, review 24 hours in advance and 
escalate) 

Has the emergency equipment being checked? 

Is there any Tendable Audits that need completing? 
(Include results below 80% that need to occur 
weekly) 

Has board round being completed following SHOP 
principles? (Identify lead and attendees, escalations 
to site rep and MOD) 

Is there any referrals that need to be made? 
(Therapy, speciality reviews, dietician, SALT, TVN, 
admiral nurse) 

Are there any deteriorating patients or patients you 
are concerned about? (discuss NEWS, RESPECT, 
escalation and plan) 

Are there any outstanding jobs on the nursing 
assessment board? 

Identify patients who are MFFD and Golden 
Patients for discharge. 

Has the Criteria to reside being reviewed? 

Has there been any incidents? Have these been 
reported via datix? 

Is there any family meetings/communication 
needing to be arranged or arranged? (including 
DOC) 

Is there any patient on a DOLS, patients who lack 
capacity or requiring 1-1 supervision and have the 
request forms being sent to MOD inbox? 

Are there any complex patients identified on the 
ward requiring input from other services? 

CG 1 NIC handover updated July 2025. GS HON, JB DHON, RS Matron.
Response from Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust Exhibit 2 Care Group 1 Huddle Updated July 2025 (PDF)
Care Group 1 (Medicine) Safety Huddle Log 

Expectations:  
The Huddle is to be completed 3 times a day (AM, PM & Night) or following an incident.  
Ward Manager to review daily, Matron to review weekly and share at the monthly Quality Meeting with HON/DHON.  
Log scanned and saved to the ward shared drive.   
Date: 

Time:     

Lead: 

Present: 

Shift Allocation/Key messages 

Patient Safety/Experience Concerns 

Safeguarding issues 

Your Health and Wellbeing – breaks 

Escalations from NIC following review of 
Patient Overview Board and Nursing 
Assessment Board (on Meditech) and discuss 
outstanding actions  -  Any escalation? 
Escalations to NIC - Deteriorating patients -
The NIC Must be informed and 
communication must be maintained - 
escalate to ART if required.  
Escalations to Matron/Matron of the Day 

Is there any family discussions that need to 
take place? including changes in patients 
condition, post incident, discharge planning. 
Has the process been identified and has this 
been arranged including MDT? 
Tissue Viability - Is the right equipment in 
place? Have the assessments been completed 
within the required timeframe? Any 
escalations?  
Falls - Is the right equipment in place and are 
falls prevention measures in place? Have the 
assessments been completed within the 
required timeframe? Has the L&SBP being 
completed? Any escalations?  
Enhanced Care - support options explored - 
LD, MHLT, admiral nurse, family support? This 
is me completed? Enhanced care submitted if 
appropriate? 
Mental Health - Any patients concerned 
about? Any Missing/risk of missing persons?  
Protocol followed?  Any escalations? 
IPC - Any special precautions in place? Any 
escalations? 
Discharge planning to include discussions 
with family, golden patients, C2R, IDT 
position/to be completed, EDD, follow 
therapy plan/equipment  
Moving and Handling – referral to therapy, 
ongoing requirements 

CG 1 huddle updated July 2025. GS HON, JB DHON, RS Matron. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Care Group 1 (Medicine) Safety Huddle Log 

Expectations:  
The Huddle is to be completed 3 times a day (AM, PM & Night) or following an incident.  
Ward Manager to review daily, Matron to review weekly and share at the monthly Quality Meeting with HON/DHON.  
Log scanned and saved to the ward shared drive.   
Date: 

Time:     

Lead: 

Present: 

Shift Allocation/Key messages 

Patient Safety/Experience Concerns 

Safeguarding issues 

Your Health and Wellbeing – breaks 

Escalations from NIC following review of 
Patient Overview Board and Nursing 
Assessment Board (on Meditech) and discuss 
outstanding actions  -  Any escalation? 
Escalations to NIC - Deteriorating patients -
The NIC Must be informed and 
communication must be maintained - 
escalate to ART if required.  
Escalations to Matron/Matron of the Day 

Is there any family discussions that need to 
take place? including changes in patients 
condition, post incident, discharge planning. 
Has the process been identified and has this 
been arranged including MDT? 
Tissue Viability - Is the right equipment in 
place? Have the assessments been completed 
within the required timeframe? Any 
escalations?  
Falls - Is the right equipment in place and are 
falls prevention measures in place? Have the 
assessments been completed within the 
required timeframe? Has the L&SBP being 
completed? Any escalations?  
Enhanced Care - support options explored - 
LD, MHLT, admiral nurse, family support? This 
is me completed? 1-1 submitted if 
appropriate? 
Mental Health - Any patients concerned 
about? Any Missing/risk of missing persons?  
Protocol followed?  Any escalations? 
IPC - Any special precautions in place? Any 
escalations? 
Discharge planning to include discussions 
with family, golden patients, C2R, IDT 
position/to be completed, EDD, follow 
therapy plan/equipment  
Moving and Handling – referral to therapy, 
ongoing requirements 

CG 1 huddle updated July 2025. GS HON, JB DHON, RS Matron. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CG 1 huddle updated July 2025. GS HON, JB DHON, RS Matron.
Response from Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust Exhibit 3 Falls Powerbi Dashboard (PDF)
Quality Insights - Inpatient Falls
Cover Sheet

Report Name: Quality Insights - Inpatient Falls

Purpose: To provide data and insights on the number of inpatient falls within the
trust and monitor this over time against national benchmarks

Data source(s): Datix, Meditech

Refresh frequency: Daily

Report Last Refreshed: 07/07/2025

Background filters/exclusions: Only adult general and acute wards are included
within this report. Falls are defined as 'Fall from height, 'Fall from trolley' and 'Trip
on level ground'. Collapses and rejected Datix incidents are excluded.

Last Modified Date: 09/07/2024

Sign Off Status: Approved

Report Owner:

, Deputy Chief Nurse

Questions & Queries :

Quality Intelligence Business Partner -

rrr
e would love to hear your feedback, please contact rrgh-tr
.bi-analytics@nhs.net
ggh-tr.bi-analytics@nhs.net
bi-analytics@nhs.net
y @

WWe would love to hear your feedback, please contact
feedback/suggestions
feedback/suggestions

forfor

 Quality Insights - Inpatient Falls
Falls Rate

07-Jul-2025

Report Refreshed

Time Period

19/12/2022  30/06/2025 

Show data

 Combined

 Individual

Ward

 Select all

 A1

 A2

 A3

 A4

 A5

 A7

 Acute Medical Unit

 Acute Surgical Unit

 B05

 B10

 B11

 Coronary Care Unit

 Fitzwilliam Orthopaedic Trauma

 Rockingham Orthopaedic IP

 Short Stay Unit

 Sitwell

 Stroke Unit

Total Number
of Falls

2253

Falls Per 1000
Bed Days

6.24

Total Number of
Bed Days

360,962

Moderate and
Above Falls

Moderate and Above
Per 1000 Bed Days

52

0.14

Falls Per 1000 Bed Days for G&A Inpatient Areas

Dashed line is national benchmark 6.63

8

7

6

5

4
Jan 2023

Jul 2023

Jan 2024

Jul 2024

Jan 2025

Moderate and Above Falls Per 1000 Bed Days for G&A Inpatient Areas

Dashed line is national benchmark 0.19

0.4

0.2

0.0

Jan 2023

Jul 2023

Jan 2024

Jul 2024

Jan 2025

 Quality Insights - Inpatient Falls
SPC Charts

07-Jul-2025

Report Refreshed

Time Period

01/02/2025  28/02/2025 

Total Number
of Falls

69

Falls Per 1000
Bed Days

6.32

Falls Per 1000 Bed Days for G&A Inpatient Areas

Total Number of
Bed Days

10,926

Moderate and
Above Falls

Moderate and Above
Per 1000 Bed Days

0

0.00

Ward

 Select all

 A1

 A2

 A3

 A4

 A5

 A7

 Acute Medical Unit

 Acute Surgical Unit

 B05

 B10

 B11

6.32

Moderate and Above Falls Per 1000 Bed Days for G&A Inpatient Areas

Feb-25

 Coronary Care Unit

 Fitzwilliam Orthopaedic Trauma

 Rockingham Orthopaedic IP

0.00

 Short Stay Unit

 Sitwell

 Stroke Unit

Feb-25
Response from Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (PDF)
Our reference: INQ497 

   Your reference: NJM/cb/tji/28304436 

Rotherham Hospital 
Moorgate Road 
Oakwood 
Rotherham 
S60 2UD 

Telephone 01709 820000 
www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk 

12 August 2025 

Dear Mr Tait,  

Inquest touching the Death of Hazel Gambles – Regulation 28 Response  

I write further to your letter dated 17 June 2025, where you set out matters of sufficient 
concern  to  you  to  invoke  your  statutory  duty  under  paragraph  7,  schedule  5  of  the 
Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and Regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) 
Regulations 2013.  

I was very sorry to hear that you were in a position where you felt a report was necessary. 
As a Trust, we take any deaths very seriously and always strive to learn from any incidents. 
I am very sorry to the family and friends of Mrs Gambles that our care didn’t reach the 
expected standard and that they did not have the experience that we strive to achieve at 
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust.  

For ease of reference, I have addressed your concerns in the order presented.  

1. 

Lying and standing Blood Pressure was not recorded on admission. 

In Mrs Gambles’ care records it was documented that she hadn’t had her lying and 
standing blood pressure taken.  

Lying and standing blood pressure is part of the falls risk assessment and should be 
completed each time the risk assessment is re-done. To mitigate the risk of this being 
missed, there is now a falls champion on each ward and part of their responsibility 
is  to  educate  the  team  around  the  importance  of  risk  assessments.  The  falls 
champions are also tasked with completing checks to ensure that lying and standing 
blood pressures have been completed for those who need it.  

There is also now a healthcare assistant assigned on every shift and part of their 
role is to ensure that those patients who require a lying and standing blood pressure, 
have had this undertaken.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Since Mrs Gambles’ admission, the Trust has also implemented a nurse in charge 
checklist  and  a  standardised  nursing  handover.  The  nurse  in  charge  checklist 
provides  a  further  level  of  senior  oversight  on  the  ward  to  ensure  that  risk 
assessments are being completed to the expected standard. Please find the nurse 
in charge checklist attached to this response as Exhibit 1.   

2. 

There was no documentation of any falls prevention measures at the time of 
the first falls assessment. 

In the care of Mrs Gambles, unfortunately there was no documentation to confirm 
whether any falls equipment was in place, following her falls risk assessment.  

At the time of Mrs Gambles’ admission, the falls prevention measures part of the risk 
assessment was not a mandatory field and so there was  a risk that this would be 
missed. Since Mrs Gambles’ death, this has now been changed to a mandatory field 
within the risk assessment. This means that nursing staff are unable to progress with 
documentation until they have completed the entry, and so it should be clear as to 
what falls prevention measures are required for each individual patient. Compliance 
with this is audited as part of the Tendable audit. The Tendable falls inspection overall 
outcome  from  February  2025  to August  2025  shows  that  overall  compliance  has 
risen from 78% in February 2025 to 98% in August 2025.  

In relation to falls, the Trust has also successfully recruited a falls lead practitioner. 
This practitioner is due to commence next month (September 2025). The falls lead 
will have a responsibility to drive improvements in the prevention and treatment of 
all falls within the Trust. Part of their role will be looking at clinical effectiveness and 
to look at anything which may fall outside of the falls audit. They will also be reviewing 
the  national  falls  audit  and  considering  where  further  improvements  need  to  be 
made.  

The Trust has also now implemented a standardised safety huddle log. Please find 
this attached at Exhibit 2. Within this, there is a section in relation to falls and specific 
prompts to ask: 

  Is the right equipment in place and are falls prevention measures in place? 
  Have the assessments been completed within the required timeframe? 
The  Trust  will  measure  compliance  and  effectiveness  of  this  throughout  the 
implementation phase. 

3. 

There is no evidence of falls prevention measures being put in place following 
the first falls assessment 

As mentioned in the previous section, we have now ensured that these fields are 
mandatory  and  so  this  should  prompt  the  staff  to  ensure  that  falls  prevention 
measures are put in place.  

The Tendable  audit  questions  are  monitored  on  a  monthly  basis  and  any  actions 
arising  from  non-compliance  with  this  are  monitored. There  is  also  a  falls  section 

Chief Executive, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust   
Executive Assistant: 
Email 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 within the Trust’s Exemplar Accreditation programme which is designed around the 
CQC key lines of enquiry to ensure the quality of care delivered to patients within a 
ward environment. Each area is measured continuously.  

It is also expected that once the falls lead practitioner starts in September 2025, part 
of their portfolio will be to ensure that appropriate audits take place and if there are 
any areas where further quality improvement work can be undertaken, they will be 
tasked with identifying this.  

There are also monthly external assurance audits undertaken by someone external 
to the ward. A senior member of staff will go and look at the entire environment to 
see  whether  the  appropriate  signage  is  up  –  i.e.  gingerbread  man.  The  senior 
member of staff will also check on other aspects of the patients care such as nutrition 
and  hydration  documentation  to  ensure  that  everything  is  being  undertaken  as 
expected.   

Each  nurse  also  has  a  professional  responsibility  to  make  sure  whatever  they 
document is correct and implemented.   

4. 

There was no falls assessment done at the time of transfer to ward B4. There 
should have been a falls assessment within six hours of transfer but that did 
not happen. The assessment took place some 23 hours after admission to the 
ward, by which time Mrs Gambles had already fallen. 

Since Mrs Gambles’ admission, we have now implemented an overview dashboard 
within  the  Meditech  system  (the  Trust’s  medical  records  system).    This  is  an 
electronic dashboard  and  shows  in  real time  which  risks  assessments  have  been 
completed  and  which  are  still  outstanding  for  each  patient. The  use  of  this  board 
throughout  the  nurse  in  charge  shift  means  that  they  now  direct  staff  when 
assessments  haven't  been  completed  and  it  is  much  clearer  to  identify  when  risk 
assessments are overdue or have not taken place.   

Risk assessments also now refresh on transfer to a new ward so that there is less 
risk of a staff member copying the previous ward assessments. On transfer to a new 
ward,  the  staff member will  be  presented  will  a  completely  blank  risk  assessment 
which will prompt them to fill in the assessment from scratch based on the patient’s 
current presentation. 

Ward B4 was initially set up as a winter pressures ward, but now has a substantive 
leadership team. As it is a new ward, it is in its baseline data gathering year and has 
not  had  an  initial  accreditation  (using  the  Exemplar  Accreditation  Programme), 
however this will happen in October 2025 once there is a year’s worth of data. This 
will  include  handover  and  falls  assessments  and  any  non-compliance  will  lead  to 
clear improvement actions.  

5. 

Following the in-patient fall there was a delay of over 5 hours before a medical 
review  took  place.  The  note  recording  the  request  for  medical  review  is  not 
timed. 

Chief Executive, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust   
Executive Assistant: 
Email

3 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The induction of resident doctors includes sessions on resuscitation and more details 
are  now  included  on  the  response  to  a  deteriorating  patient.  The  clinical  teams 
(resident doctors and the acute response team) will prioritize deteriorating patients 
who  need  to  be  reviewed  overnight  (elevated  NEWS2  scores  or  abnormal 
neurological signs). The Trust is moving towards employing two medical registrars 
on call overnight.  

We  have  reviewed  the  national  audit  of  inpatient  falls  (NAIF)  data  which 
demonstrates  that  the  Trust  is  routinely  completing  accurate  assessments  for 
patients who fell in hospital and sustained an injury. The data confirm that the medical 
review for these patients is now taking place within 30 minutes.  

Mrs Gambles’ care will not be included in the NAIF figures as the inclusion criteria at 
that  time only  covered  patients  who  had  a fall  that  resulted  in  a  fractured  neck of 
femur.  Since  1  January  2025,  the  audit  now  includes  more  injuries  than  just  a 
fractured neck of femur. The audit now includes head injury, spinal injury, hip fracture, 
vertebral fracture, rib fracture, humeral fracture, distal forearm fracture, pelvic ring 
fracture or any other fracture.  
As part of this audit, any patients who have had an inpatient fall that sustain an injury 
included  within  the  audit,  will  be  reviewed  and  the  data  shared,  including 
improvement actions.  

6. 

There was no discussion with Mrs Gambles' family explaining the findings of 
the CT scan and they were not told about the bleed on the brain. 

Mrs Gambles’ family should have been updated on the findings of the CT scan and 
I am very sorry to see that this didn’t happen. To improve communication with family, 
we have implemented a number of changes. 

There are daily ward rounds on all medical wards and the Trust is working to ensure 
that  “board  rounds”  take  place  prior  to  the  ward  round  to  ensure  that  all  relevant 
information is captured and that all patients have a senior review on a daily basis. 
Some  consultants  already  have  time  in  their  job  plans  for  a  consultant 
communication with families after the ward round, via telephone call. We are now 
changing job plans to ensure that all medical consultants have dedicated time to do 
this. 

The nurse in charge checklist includes a specific question to ask “is there any family 
meetings / communication needing to be arranged”. The nurse in charge checklist is 
completed at each nurse in charge handover. The safety huddle log also includes a 
prompt  to  as  “is  there  any  family  discussions  that  need  to  take  place?  Including 
changes in patient’s condition, post incident, discharge planning.” The safety huddle 
is completed three times a day (morning, afternoon and night).  

As a Trust, we also now have a further safety net with the introduction of  Martha’s 
Law,  which  was  introduced  in  February  2025.  This  provides  a  direct  number  for 
patients  and  families  that  feel  they  are  worried  about  the  medical  care  they  are 

Chief Executive, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust   
Executive Assistant: 
Email 

4 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 receiving, their condition is deteriorating, and they don't feel listened to or if they want 
a second opinion. The contact number is displayed across the Trust and within each 
Ward and Bay area. As a Trust, we have seen positive outcomes from patient and 
family feedback who have felt the need to access this resource and support. 

7.  No  Datix  report  was  done  following  the  in-patient  fall  leading  to  a  delay  in 

investigation. 

No  Datix  report was  completed  after the  in-patient fall  and  this should  have  been 
done at the earliest opportunity, following the fall. The responsibility of completing a 
Datix report is the person who has identified a safety incident or significant concern. 
In the event that a Datix is not completed during the shift due to distraction, capacity 
or not having access to the system, this should be escalated to the nurse in charge 
who will complete on the persons behalf. 

The nurse in charge checklist now asks the question “has there been any incidents? 
Have these been recorded via Datix?”. This gives an opportunity for the senior team 
to consider whether there are any outstanding incident reports and if so, ensure that 
these are reported at the earliest opportunity.   

The induction for temporary staff form includes a specific section on Datix and when 
an incident should be reported and the process to follow post falls. Whilst the nurse 
involved  in  Mrs  Gambles  care  wasn’t  temporary,  this  ensures  that  any  temporary 
staff on the ward are aware of the expected process to follow.  

8. 

The in-patient fall is not mentioned on the Discharge letter. 

The Trust acknowledges that the discharge letter was not to the standard that would 
have been expected and that crucial information, including the inpatient fall was not 
included within this.  

As  a Trust,  we  have  now  added  a  mandatory  question  to  the  inpatient  discharge 
summary to ask whether the patient has had a fall, VTE (Venous Thromboembolism), 
pressure ulcer or any other incident. This will prompt clinicians to consider whether 
any of these have occurred and if so, it will be clear on the discharge summary. This 
will be monitored throughout the implementation stage, to ensure effectiveness.  

We  also  review  where  we  stand  nationally  in  relation  to  falls  and  use  a  PowerBi 
dashboard  to  monitor  this.  I  have  enclosed  the  most  updated  version  with  my 
response at Exhibit 3. This demonstrates that although there has been a couple of 
months falls have slightly increased, we have predominantly been sitting under the 
national average for all falls and for moderate and above harms falls for quite some 
time. 

I hope the above provides you and Mrs Gambles’ family with assurance that the Trust has 
taken this report very seriously, and has established stronger procedures to ensure that 
we improve the quality of care we provide to our patients.  

Chief Executive, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust   
Executive Assistant: 
Email 

5 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.  

Yours sincerely  

Chief Executive 

Dr Richard Jenkins 
Chief Executive, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust   
Executive Assistant: Sharree JohnstoneDirect Line  01709 424001   
Email sharree.johnstone@nhs.net 

6

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