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recurance

Nicholas Rowley

15 Apr 2015 · Coroner Ian Smith · Stoke-on-Trent & North Staffordshire

This report repeats 1 earlier warning. See the linked reports.

The coroner's concerns

  1. 1. lack of verbal consultation between medical practitioner and custody sergeant regarding observation levels

    “That consideration be given to issuing guidance that whenever a detainee is attended upon by a medical practitioner there should be a verbal consultation between the medical practitioner and custody sergeant as to any issues of concern and the level of observations to be had for that detainee in addition to the medical practitioner making detailed notes on the detainee's custody medical record.”
  2. 2. lack of joint training for medical practitioners, custody sergeants and assistants

    “That consideration be given to the provision of joint training exercises for medical practitioners, custody sargeants and custody”
  3. 3. inadequate training on correct observation levels

    “That training should provide targeted emphasis on the correct levels of observation.”
  4. 4. ambiguous instruction to continue observations at current level

    “That consideration should be given to eliminating the phrase 'continue observations at the current level' and require that doctors and custody sargeants specify the level of observation precisely.”
  5. 5. lack of training on drug and alcohol risks including methadone intoxication and alcohol withdrawal

    “That training should include targeted training on the risks and dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, including methadone intoxication and alcohol withdrawal, particularly if the detainee is likely to be in custody for upwards of 24 hours.”

Linked reports

Repeats an earlier warningWayne Broad17 Jan 2014 · 1 year 3 months earlier
Closely relatedConfidence 0.85 · high

Earlier report

“That was no dedicated substance misuse team available to look after Mr [name redacted] when he was in the custody suite at Hatfield Police Station, as there would have been had Mr [name redacted] been detained in prison”
Original on judiciary.uk ↗

This report

“That training should include targeted training on the risks and dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, including methadone intoxication and alcohol withdrawal, particularly if the detainee is likely to be in custody for upwards of 24 hours.”
Full chain: Lack of dedicated substance misuse team in police custody

Responses

2015-0138-Response-by-College-of-Policing.pdf ↗· National Police Chiefs' Council

Stated action · circa summer 2015

“We feel that this represents a common sense approach, which we would suggest would ensue in the majority of circumstances, therefore we take no issue with incorporating appropriate guidance to this affect as part of the interim review of the Detention and Custody Authorised Professional Practice which is currently ongoing. We anticipate that the updated guidance will be published and available via the College website circa summer 2015.”

2015-0138-Response-by-G4S1.pdf ↗· G4S

Stated action

“G4S will undertake to formally write to all of our contracting police forces to outline this recommendation and recommend this as best practice which G4S support”
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Source: Prevention of Future Deaths reports and responses published by the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary at judiciary.uk. Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data updated 26 Oct 2026.

A link shows that a similar concern was raised again, not why. It is not a finding about any organisation or person. Methodology and responsible use · Report an error