Lessons from Gemma Hayter’s death still awaiting publication

A REVIEW into social and mental health reforms prompted by the murder of Gemma Hayter has not yet been made public.

And Warwickshire County Council say it would not be published until October - nearly a year after it was expected.

Gemma, 27, who lived alone and suffered mental and physical disabilities, was killed by five people she thought were her friends just over three years ago.

An inquiry into her death by Warwickshire Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board (WSAPB) was published in November 2011, recommending 26 reforms to health and local government agencies to better protect other vulnerable adults in the future.

The inquiry pledged to “put in place arrangements to independently review and evidence progress against the recommendations 12 months after publication of the public summary”.

Peter Jackson, honorary secretary of the Warwickshire Learning Disability Forum, told us this week: “We’ve never seen any sort of final report or independent review which was suggested by the recommendation.

“In view of the county council’s policy of moving vulnerable people from the relative safety of residential care to supported living, surely this should be given a higher level of priority.

“We’d like to see the recommendations implemented, and maybe they’ll resolve the situation and convince us that supported living is just as good as residential care.

“Until we’ve seen whether the recommendations have been implemented or not, it’s difficult to make a judgement.”

A spokesperson for the county council insisted no date was ever set for the the independent review to be published.

“It is anticipated the outcome of the independent review will be reported to the meeting of the Safeguarding Adult Board in October 2013.”

Disorder

The 2011 report found better support from social and mental health workers could have helped Gemma avoided becoming involved with her killers, who were not known to WSAPB.

It said Gemma was never diagnosed with a specific medical disorder due to her ‘aggressive’ and ‘uncooperative’ behaviour – making it impossible for her to receive the full level of support from social services.

Summarising the findings at the time, inquiry chair Kathy McAteer said: “Though there was evidence she was regularly exploited by people who knew her and she was known to many agencies, no single agency had a full picture of her life and the level of risk she was exposed to.”

Responding to the report in 2011, WSAPB chairman Wendy Fabbro said: “There is a shared determination amongst all agencies to learn the lessons from this review and act upon the recommendations so we can take robust, positive action to minimise risks to vulnerable adults in the future.”

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