Security to be beefed-up at unit where care worker was killed

By The Press Association9th January 2015News EnglandMental Health, News England, Wotton Lawn Hospital

Security will be “enhanced” at the secure mental unit where Sharon Wall was killed, with its boss admitting staff have “no idea” where killer Ryan Matthews got his murder weapon.

Shaun Clee, chief executive of the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust, said an internal investigation recommended search practices be beefed up at the “low secure” Montpellier Ward at Wotton Lawn Hospital in Gloucester after the healthcare assistant’s murder.

Matthews used a kitchen knife he managed to get into the unit from outside.

Patients on low secure wards can be allowed out of the unit on escorted and unescorted trips, Mr Clee added, but he declined to say whether Matthews had been allowed out on such visits, on patient confidentiality grounds.

He said: “What we know for a fact is we have no idea where the knife came from.

“We know for a fact the knife was not one of the ‘sharps’ on the unit. Those are controlled, they are moderated and we know that they are constantly monitored as to where they are, and they are all accounted for.

“So we know the blade that was used in this attack came from outside the unit and as a consequence we have had a good look at our search policies and processes and all of the doctors, nurses, allied health professionals (and) managers who have been involved in that have concluded that actually we maybe ought to do something slightly different and so we are going to be enhancing our search processes.”

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating Mrs Wall’s death, saying its inquiry is continuing.

The 2gether website says Wotton Lawn Hospital is an 88-bed acute mental health hospital near the centre of Gloucester which provides inpatient services for the county of Gloucestershire.

The hospital has four admission wards, a nurse-led psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) and a the Montpellier Unit low secure unit (LSU). It said service users were supported by a variety of healthcare workers including nurses, doctors, psychologists, art therapists, physiotherapists, occupational and sports exercise therapists.

Mr Clee said people held in low secure units included those who had been held in high or medium secure units and “move down through medium secure and into low secure before being discharged”.

Wotton Lawn is “first and foremost” a hospital, he said, although the Montpellier Unit does have a security fence.

Mr Clee said: “Depending on the individual’s presented circumstances, there will be times when people have leave from the unit, and that can be both escorted leave and unescorted leave.

“The search policies up and down the country on low secure units differ slightly. Our policies previously were in line with many other organisations’ policies but we feel at this stage now, in the light of what has happened, that it would be appropriate to enhance those further.”

Mr Clee said Mrs Wall, a grandmother, had worked in mental health units across Gloucestershire on and off for around 20 years.

He said his thoughts were with her family, adding: This was a unique and tragic event and Sharon was a very well respected and liked colleague, compassionate and caring … and it has hit colleagues deeply that we have lost a member of staff. It has hit everybody across the organisation.”