A report into a Manchester prisoner who died of COVID back in December 2020 has raised concerns about the prison and its healthcare provider, the NHS

Trevor Ferguson died in hospital on 9 December 2020, from COVID-19 pneumonia, while a prisoner at HMP Garth in Lancashire.

He had been jailed back in 2009 for the murder of his ex partner in North Wales

Ferguson,who came from Sale said the report, almost certainly caught the infection at Garth as he had not left the prison for several months.

The clinical reviewer concluded that Mr Ferguson’s clinical care at Garth was partly equivalent to that he could have expected to receive in the community adding that during the pandemic, appropriate steps were taken to reduce contact between prisoners in line with guidelines from HM Prison and Probation Service and Public Health England.

However, it added,the clinical reviewer was concerned about Mr Ferguson’s clinical management after he contracted COVID-19, as no care plan was in place; no clinical observations were taken; and, despite his clinical vulnerability, there were no healthcare checks between him reporting symptoms and his admission to hospital. The clinical reviewer also highlighted weaknesses in care before Mr Ferguson contracted the infection.

There was also,they added, lack of clarity as to whether Mr Ferguson had been assessed as vulnerable to complications from COVID-19 and offered the opportunity to shield. We were unable to resolve this and therefore cannot be satisfied that his risk was appropriately managed.

“ We are also concerned that an ambulance was not requested immediately in response to a medical emergency code and information was not passed promptly to the Ambulance Service call handler.”

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