Wayne Brown
20 May 2025 · Coroner Louise Hunt · Birmingham and Solihull
The coroner's concerns
1. lack of investigation into suicide related to work events
“WMFS did not undertake any investigation after Mr [name redacted] death and have no policy requiring them to do so. Any opportunity to learn from a death such as a suicide related to work events including what welfare support was provided has not been addressed. This creates a risk of future deaths and action should be taken.”
2. lack of support for senior staff facing stressors and disciplinary investigations
“Neither WMFS health and wellbeing policy nor the mental health policy make any provision for supporting senior staff members who are facing significant stressors and/or potential disciplinary investigations beyond the person approaching Occupational health themselves. The policy offers further support to lower ranks. In addition, there was no formal mechanism for recording concerns about welfare that arise during either an informal or a fact finding investigation. This creates a risk of future”