Hospital bosses fail to answer questions after death of newspaper chief
Pete Magill died aged 49 in June, three days after turning up to A&E at Warrington Hospital
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
Today we report on the death of Pete Magill who was Newsquest’s print chief for the North West, which includes oversight of the Lancashire Telegraph. He had also worked for the publisher behind the Lancashire Post and Blackpool Gazette.
Pete died aged 49 in June, three days after turning up to A&E at Warrington Hospital with headaches, blurred vision and an aversion to light.
But The Lancashire Lead can reveal that Pete’s death was the second involving a ligature at the hospital in the space of three months, with another happening in March.
“Patient safety incident investigations” into both deaths have been opened, hospital documents say, with the CQC also called in.
Given the nature of today’s article, we have made it free to read in full.
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Lancashire briefing
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Hospital bosses fail to answer questions after death of newspaper chief
By Michael Holmes
How was a man with a medical history of ill mental health allowed to tie a ligature around his neck - unseen - when he was confused, hearing voices and leaving medics to fear for his mental state?
That is the question bosses at Warrington Hospital have failed to answer after journalist Pete Magill died on one of its wards - just three months after a similar incident.
And it is despite the health industry watchdog Care Quality Commission (CQC) launching an investigation to run alongside the hospital’s own - and a doctor telling an inquest changes have already been made.
Hiding behind data protection rules, and citing patient confidentiality, the hospital’s press office declined to answer a string of questions that were asked in good faith and in the public interest.
Instead, it issued a statement - attributed to a spokesperson - saying simply: “We offer our sincere condolences to Mr Magill’s family for their loss. Patient confidentiality is of great importance and we are unable to comment on specific elements of Mr Magill’s care.
“Our focus is always to provide the best possible care for patients and we are committed to making continuous improvements wherever we can.”
Pete died aged 49 in June, three days after turning up to A&E at Warrington Hospital with headaches, blurred vision and an aversion to light.
The cause of those symptoms remains a mystery, with tests ruling out suspected meningitis and encephalitis, a condition that causes swelling of the brain.
Pete became confused - wandering the corridors, unaware of where he was, leaving his family and friends worried.
The rugby fanatic, who was newspaper publisher Newsquest’s print chief for the north west, was given one-to-one care, his inquest was told, with doctors concerned he had mental health issues.
Pete, who also once worked for Lancashire Post and The Gazette publisher Iconic and had a depressive episode about 20 years earlier, appeared to improve while on the acute medical unit, a 36-bed unit with five sideroom cubicles for isolation and three enhanced care unit pods.
However, although he was less confused, he was still hearing voices and struggling to piece together what had happened to him.
On the day of Pete’s death, Dr Joshua Longden saw him on his morning rounds and said he appeared to be in better spirits - though he was still hearing voices.
Shortly after, Pete was found strangled, with a ligature around his neck.
Dr Longden told the inquest that the hospital has made two changes since Pete’s death.
Medics will now consider whether someone presenting with changed but not necessarily suicidal behaviour should be left in a side pod, which often have privacy curtains and no windows.
They will also consider whether patients with both physical and mental issues should be given support for the mental issues earlier - with the inquest told referrals are only made for mental aid once physical problems have been ruled out.
But The Lancashire Lead can reveal that Pete’s death was the second involving a ligature at the hospital in the space of three months, with another happening in March.
So-called “patient safety incident investigations” into both deaths have been opened, hospital documents say, with the CQC also called in.
Inspectors held talks with hospital chiefs and were “satisfied they had taken assurances regarding risks to patients, and action plans were in place following ligature risk assessments they carried out”, a spokesperson said.
Monitoring was continued, with the hospital sharing the coroner’s report on Friday, which it is “in the process of reading”.
Inspectors will then “make a decision regarding our next steps and if any action is needed”, the spokesperson added.
The Lancashire Lead asked Warrington Hospital if its investigations into Pete’s death and the similar death in March have been completed and, if so, what they found.
It also asked what changes were made after the March death and why they did not prevent Pete’s death.
And it was asked to give more detail on the changes made since Pete died, including why they were made.
It did not answer any of them.
The coroner overseeing Pete’s inquest, Charlotte Keighley, has the power to formally demand answers from the hospital through a regulation 28 report, which are issued when action is needed to prevent future deaths.
Her office has yet to say whether such a report will be written.
Following Pete’s death, Roger Airey, head of production for the north at Newsquest, said: “Pete was a tenacious, brilliant reporter with the ability to turn the most complex strands of information into an easily intelligible story expressed with the fewest words possible – a skill only the best journalists possess.”