Ofsted inspection played part in Ruth Perry’s death, GP says

The GP of a head teacher who died ahead of her school's Ofsted report has told her inquest the inspection played "more than a minimal part" in her death.

Dr Tom Back said Ruth Perry told him she was the "main breadwinner" and was worried about her job.

Mrs Perry took her own life in January.

Caversham Primary School was downgraded to inadequate following the Ofsted visit in November 2022 because of safeguarding concerns, but has since been regraded as good.

Dr Back said Mrs Perry had told him she "never had feelings like this before", and he had encouraged her to take time off work.

Asked whether the inspection had played "more than a minimal part" in her mental health deterioration and death, he replied "yes".

The inquest also heard more from Mrs Perry's husband Jonathan Perry, whose statement was read out by the coroner.

It said Mrs Perry feared "Caversham house prices" would go down and she had been worried about what the school parents would say about the "devastating result".

Mr Perry said his wife told him that she had been having "dark thoughts" a few days after the inspection, and asked her husband to take her to the local psychiatric hospital.

He told the inquest they left the hospital because they did not feel they "could trust" the staff there with the confidentiality of the Ofsted report, and she was advised to contact her GP the next day.

Sue McLaughlin, from Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, apologised to the family during the inquest and said the service "fell short" of what the family was expecting, and steps have been taken following feedback.

The inquest heard that Mrs Perry was directed towards a mental health crisis team and Daniel Buckley, the clinical team lead, talked to her numerous times.

The Perrys had been planning to move house, and Mr Buckley said that the "perfect storm" of that together with the inspection left Mrs Perry "really busy and feeling overwhelmed".

She told him she had found Ofsted to be the "most inhumane" system.

Mr Buckley said she was discharged from the crisis team on 7 December because there were "clear signs of improvement" in her mood and she was feeling "more resolute in her ability to cope".

Mr Perry said they decided they would not buy his family house which they were planning on redecorating, but instead would find somewhere cheaper and more manageable.

The day before her death, they went to see a modern house on the other side of Caversham, he said, but knew "it wasn't for us".

The inquest will sit again on Monday, with the coroner expecting to deliver her conclusions on 7 December.

At a conference in Bournemouth on Friday, the head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, said "how saddened everybody at Ofsted has been at the death of Ruth Perry".

She said she "absolutely recognises the anxiety that can build up" around inspections, but that the system has been designed to be "as constructive and fair and professional" as possible.

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