Response to concern for welfare report - Greater Manchester Police, October 2017
In October 2017, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) received a call from a local mental health unit to report concerns for the welfare of a man who had been discharged as a patient the previous day. The caller explained the man had been posting his ‘final goodbyes’ on social media. The member of staff asked GMP to send officers to the man’s home to check on his welfare.
An incident log was created and forwarded to divisional control room staff. After discussion, it was decided to instruct the mental health unit staff member to ask North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) to send an ambulance crew to check on the man. Control room staff later contacted NWAS and established that they had not received a request to check on the man. Control room staff then re-contacted the staff member from the mental health unit and she confirmed that she was in the process of requesting an ambulance via the 101 telephone number. GMP then closed their incident log.
Two days later, GMP received a report that the man had been found dead at his home by a friend.
During the investigation, we obtained relevant evidence from GMP. Our investigators reviewed radio transmission and call recordings, along with documentation recorded on the force IT systems in relation to the two incidents of police contact, as well as local procedures.
The circumstances were identified as being those where both the police and the ambulance service were suitable to provide the response to checking on the man’s welfare. We were of the opinion that the evidence indicated that GMP had taken steps to ensure the concern for the man was responded to by NWAS.
We were also of the opinion that there was no evidence to suggest that the police actions caused or contributed to the death of the man.
After reviewing our report, GMP agreed.
We completed our investigation in April 2018, but waited until the inquest into the man’s death had completed in winter 2018 before publishing our findings.