HMP Littlehey criticised after ill inmate left on toilet for 14 hours

A prison has been criticised after an ill and frail prisoner was left on a toilet in his cell for 14 hours.

Alan Brown, 77, was serving a 17-year jail term at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire when he died in March 2021.

The ombudsman said it had "serious safeguarding concerns" and reiterated there had been multiple other safeguarding concerns with the prison.

A Prison Service spokesman said further guidance has since been given to staff.

Brown, who had tested positive for Covid-19, was left on the toilet in his cell for 14 hours overnight between 1 and 2 March 2021, despite routine two-hourly checks.

When new staff came on shift, concern was raised and two staff members entered the cell in full PPE to find him "still sitting on the toilet, cold, very confused and unable to stand", the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) said.

Paramedics raised an adult safeguarding referral for neglect due to the circumstances in which he was found.

"Although we cannot say whether this contributed to his death, we consider that the fact that an elderly man, who was known to be ill, was left on the toilet all night raises serious safeguarding concerns," the report said.

Brown, who also suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, prostate cancer and severe heart failure, was taken to hospital with suspected hypothermia and sepsis and died on 14 March at Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

Overnight monitoring and safeguarding concerns had been raised in a previous death at the prison in March 2020, the ombudsman said, adding it was "worrying to see a second case of this kind".

Several recommendations were made by the PPO, including ensuring staff understand welfare checks and the need to escalate concerns.

An internal review by the prison found staff were not negligent.

"We are surprised at the outcome of the investigation given the findings of our own investigation," the PPO said.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "HMP Littlehey accepted all the recommendations from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and further guidance has since been given to staff alongside additional support regarding welfare checks."

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