The inquest touching the death of Mrs Corinne Haslam will commence on the 13 March 2023 at Manchester South Coroners Court before HM Senior Coroner Alison Mutch and is listed for 5 days.
Mrs Haslam, who was known to have schizophrenia, was initially admitted as a voluntary patient to Taylor Ward, Tameside General Hospital on the 16 January 2022 for treatment of her mental health alongside her diagnosis of COPD. A week later the admission was formalised pursuant to Section 3 of the Mental Health Act.
People who require treatment for a mental disorder may be admitted to hospital under section 3 for their own safety or safety of others. Admission lasts initially for up to six months. The application must be made by an AMHP based on two medical recommendations.
Following a drop in her oxygen saturation levels her condition deteriorated and she went into cardiac arrest and died at 01:01 on the 18 March 2022.
Mrs Haslam was born on the 7 March 1967 so was aged 55 years at the time of her death.
The inquest will consider the treatment of Mrs Haslam’s mental health alongside her diagnosis of COPD, her medication and the adequacy of the emergency response after she raised the alarm.
Our Head of Inquest Law, Gareth Naylor, acts on behalf of the family, in particular her husband Mr John Haslam and son, Glenn Armstrong.
Gareth said;
On the 17 March 2022 at around 22:00 Corrine came out of her room shouting “help”. Corrine was suffering from shortness of breath, her sats had dropped to 66% then to 51% before returning to 66%.
Corrine didn’t arrive at A&E (which was in the same grounds of her ward and within walking distance) until 23:30 (some 90 minutes after calling for help) and went into cardiac arrest shortly after her arrival. CPR was commenced but Corrine was sadly pronounced deceased at 01:01 on the 18 March 2022.
The family would like to know if Corinne’s mental health alongside her diagnosis of COPD was appropriately managed, whether medication contributed to her demise and whether the delay in transferring Corinne to A&E more than minimally contributed to her death or resulted in a missed opportunity to save her life. The family would like there to be lessons learned so a similar event is not repeated.
We will provide further updates as the inquest progresses.
