PROCEDURES CHANGED AT DETENTION CENTRE FOLLOWING DEATH OF TAHIR MEHMOOD
- The Inquest is expected to finish on Tuesday, Jan 13th
- Medical evidence from the doctors will be heard on Tuesday, Jan 13th
- The Coroner said on Friday (Jan 9th) that his “preliminary view” was that he was “inclined to make a regulation 28 report”.
- See link explaining Regulation 28http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/626/coroners/5533/the_inquest_system/17
- On Monday, Jan 12th, the Coroner will consider a media request to provide documents to journalists.
The Manchester based Human Rights organisation working with displaced people
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
Sunday, January 11th 2015
PROCEDURES AT PENNINE HOUSE WERE CHANGED FOLLOWING DEATH IN DETENTION, INQUEST TOLD
Coroner says he is considering making a Regulation 28 Report
Procedures at Pennine House, the short term holding centre at Manchester Airport, were changed following the death of Tahir Mehmood in July 2013.
Lisa Jane Grice, Lead Nurse at Pennine House, told Manchester Coroner Nigel Meadows that she had no clinical involvement with Mr Mehmood herself and he had been treated by other nurses. She said medical staff are now given essential paperwork before seeing new detainees. There are also defibrillators on two floors at the centre, instead of one, and more staff have been trained to use them.
Previously, there was a two hour “window” when detainees asked to see a nurse but now the medical staff are required to see them as soon as possible. There is also a sticker on the Blood Pressure machine stating that it must be set to record the date and time of readings. The Inquest heard that, at the time of Mr Mehmood's death, the batteries in the Blood Pressure machine had been changed so the date and time were not set properly.
On Friday, the Coroner said his “preliminary view” was that he was inclined to make a Regulation 28 Report as a result of his investigation. (A report under Regulation 28 is produced if it appears there is a risk of other deaths occurring in similar circumstances. The report is sent to organisations or individuals who are in a position to take action to reduce this risk and they must reply within 56 days to say what action they intend to take).
The Inquest into the death of Mr Mehmood started last Wednesday and is expected to finish on Tuesday, January 13th. Last week, the Inquest heard that medical staff at the centre did not see paperwork warning them that Mr Mehmood had complained of chest pains to Immigration officers at Dallas Court Home Office Reporting Centre in Salford before he was transferred to Pennine House, which is run by Tascor.
Information about Mr Mehmood's chest pain symptoms and the fact that he had been prescribed Vitamin D tablets was recorded on Form IS 91 R at Dallas Court and this document was seen by custody officers at Pennine House. But the form was not shown to the Tascor Medical Services' nurse when he was first examined at Pennine House, six days before his death.
Different accounts were given to the Inquest regarding the time it took for medical assistance to arrive on the day Mr Mehmood died (July 26th), resuscitation techniques and the use of defibrillators.
On the day he died, Mr Mehmood went to see Nurse Yvonne Armriding complaining of pains in his arms. He phoned his brother-in-law to ask him to speak to the nurse and explain his symptoms. The nurse took his blood pressure, which was low, and told him to rest and elevate his legs. When his blood pressure reading improved, she gave him paracetemol and sent him to his room. Just under an hour later, she responded to an emergency call when Mr Mehmood collapsed.
Ms Armriding told the Inquest that, after getting no response from Mr Mehmood, she told officers to call an ambulance and she sent someone to bring the defibrillator from the medical office two floors down because there was no defibrillator on the detainees' accommodation floor. She then started CPR with the help of Tascor's Duty Operations Manager Paul Crellin.
Both Mr Crellin and Ms Armriding said resuscitation was carried out on the bed. Ms Armriding said she had no time to use the defibrillator before the paramedics arrived.
On the first day of the Inquest (Weds), Steven O'Reilly, a paramedic with the North West Ambulance Service, told the Coroner that, when he and colleagues went into Mr Mehmood's room, he was lying on his bed. No-one was doing CPR and the paramedics lifted Mr Mehmood off the bed in his sheet and onto the floor so that resuscitation could take place. He explained that a hard surface was needed in order to carry out resuscitation.
Responding to questions about medical record keeping, Ms Armriding said she made a retrospective record written from memory. There was no notebook or notepaper on the desk in the medical room, she told the Coroner. After seeing Mr Mehmood, she saw two other detaines and then responded to the emergency call.
The Inquest continues on Monday (Jan 12th)
For more information, please contact: Kath Grant 07758386208 or Rhetta Moran 07776264646
Click here to read the open democracy report about this.