Cassie killing prompts review of health trust
THE murder of Southport travel agent Cassie Hayes was one of a series of killings and suicide attempts linked to patients under the care of a mental health trust.
A review of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust was carried out in response to worrying themes identified in the shocking incidents, which included Andrew Burke killing Cassie in the town centre branch of Tui.
In total, Burke, Christian Lacey, and Sami Salem killed five people, including two children, while under the care of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
In the past 18 months, a further three patients have fallen from the multistorey car park at Aintree University Hospital.
A review conducted by Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) found common themes including mental health staff working alone without appropriate skills, failure to listen to the families of patients and failure to understand patient risks.
The review stated: “It is unclear if all practitioners have a formal mental health qualification. The investigation identified gaps in staff knowledge and not all staff have the skills required to function as lone workers.”
Burke, 30, walked into the Tui travel agents in Southport in January 2018 and slit the throat of his ex-partner’s girlfriend, Cassie Hayes, before waiting for police to arrive.
He was jailed for life after admitting murder.
In April last year, Lacey, then 21, stabbed his 63-year-old mum, Liz Lacey, to death and tried to kill his grandmother’s carer in Garston.
A separate report into the case found staff had missed his schizophrenia due to a “lack of professional curiosity” and an assumption he was not
dangerous because he was “well dressed and from a nice family.”
He is now detained in Ashworth high security hospital.
Salem, 30, suffocated his wife and drowned his two young children in the bath at the family home in Falkner Street, Liverpool, while suffering from paranoid schizophrenia in May, 2017.
He is also detained in Ashworth.
The review also mentioned two incidents where women left a hospital ward in Aintree and fell from the multi-storey car park.
One fell from the top floor after being admitted to A&E having taken an overdose.
The second was seen by the mental health crisis team but then went to the car park and fell from the first floor, suffering severe leg injuries.
Since the publication of the review a third patient, a man in his 40s, also sustained serious injuries falling from the second floor of the building after being sectioned.
The review states: “The Aintree car park is a focal point in several incidents of suicide/attempted suicide and Aintree is doing remedial work on this to address it; this should be done jointly with Mersey Care mental health team input.
“The handover process for when the patient was transferred from A&E to the mental health team requires clarifying; it was suggested that staff in the mental health team had limited understanding of the potential risks around the patient.
“National guidance also directs that acute and mental health trusts should work together to develop their processes.”
CCG staff also found staff had not listened to the families of the service users, and in Lacey’s case they were not spoken to at all, despite being in the building where he was being assessed prior to Miss Lacey’s death.
The review said a number of changes were already being implemented, including new staff to work on crisis teams, closer scrutiny of risk assessments and closer working with GPs and families.
A spokesman for Mersey Care said: “We are aware of incidents involving service users at Aintree and we are conducting an ongoing review into the circumstances leading up them alongside colleagues from the Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
“As regards mental health assessment training of staff, a programme has been put in place to raise the skills of staff in relation to risk assessment.
“This includes both individual supervision and the delivery of a training programme.”