Complaint about delayed response to request for assistance - Northumbria Police, July 2016

On 1 July 2016, a man suffered a fall at his home, which resulted in him sustaining fatal injuries. The man’s partner made a complaint that Northumbria Police took too long to respond to a call from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) requesting assistance in securing entry to the man’s home.

An inquest into the man’s death, held in winter 2018, recorded a narrative conclusion.

During our investigation, investigators reviewed police and NEAS incident logs, examined a number of telephone conversations that had taken place between the two organisations, obtained copies of police radio transmissions and interviewed and obtained witness statements from the officers and police staff involved. Additionally, we also considered witness statements from members of the public who were present when the police arrived at the man’s home, along with police body-worn camera footage.

Our investigation identified that there were failings within the Northumbria Police control room, that there was an unnecessary delay in deploying officers to the address, and that the incident log was not graded appropriately.

Our investigation concluded that, whilst there had been organisational failings within the police control room, these did not justify misconduct proceedings. There was, however, sufficient evidence to suggest Northumbria Police may wish to consider addressing these issues by way of their performance procedures.

After considering our report, Northumbria Police agreed with our findings.