“Mrs Higginson benefitted from a care package designed for her independence and welfare…”

The coroner’s concerns

Mrs Higginson benefitted from a care package designed for her independence and welfare, engaging a remote means of making daily contact with her in the least intrusive manner. Failed contact was followed up by a call to the ambulance service which indicated that they would not attend. It is important to know whether there is an established policy for declining welfare calls, and if so, when it was introduced. It leaves patients in a difficult position when aligned with the constabulary Right Care Right Person (RCRP) policy which was published nationally on 23 June 2023 and implemented in the Cheshire region in January 2024. The RCRP policy states that the police in Cheshire (and in other areas nationally) will not respond to welfare check calls when healthcare are best placed to support those who may be in crisis. It is unclear from the ambulance service response whether a request for a welfare check, in the circumstances of this death, is to be deemed to be healthcare related and whether the ambulance service properly rejected the request, on the grounds stated. 11. COPIES AND PUBLICATION OF THIS REPORT I have a duty to send a copy of my report to every Interested Person who in my opinion should receive it. I also may send a copy of the report to any other person who I believe may find it useful or of interest. I can confirm I have sent the report to:      Next of kin Director of Alertacall The Medication Support Company Cheshire East Adult Safeguarding Cheshire Constabulary I also have a duty to send a copy of the report to the Chief Coroner. You may make representations to me, the coroner, about the publication of the contents of this report in line with Chief Coroner’s PFD Publication Policy (2026). Any representations will be sent to the Chief Coroner alongside the report. Please refer to box 4 above for additional information relating to the publication of reports and responses. 12. SIGNATURE Jacqueline DEVONISH Senior Coroner for Cheshire

An extract. Read the full report, including the circumstances of the death, on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website.

Source

judiciary.uk, Prevention of Future Deaths reports, 2026-0292

Added to Minute Book

8 Oct 2026

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, judiciary.uk. Open Government Licence v3.0