About this page. This page summarises a Domestic Homicide Review published in the Home Office DHR Library. The full report is available at the source link below. Victim and perpetrator names are not included in extracted summaries on this page.
Source · Domestic Homicide Review
St Helens review
CSP: St HelensPublished: September 2023Year of death: 2004Extracted: 3 recs
Statutory domestic homicide review under section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Source: Home Office DHR Library.
The review identified missed opportunities to assess the perpetrator's role as a carer, particularly given his own mental health issues and the victim's increasing dependency. Concerns were also raised about the detail in GP records, medication management, and the need to address the stigma of mental health in older people.
Home Office classifications
18 tags
Source-supplied classifications used by the Home Office to catalogue this review.
Victim - mental ill health
Victim - anxiety
Victim - depression
Perpetrator - was a carer
Perpetrator - carer for victim
Perpetrator - mental ill health
Perpetrator - anxiety
Perpetrator - depression
Perpetrator - died by suicide
Aggravating factors - separation
DHR process - family contributed to dhr
DHR process - family received draft report
DHR process - health services recommendations
DHR process - community safety partnership recommendations
DHR process - policy recommendation themes
DHR process - record keeping recommendation themes
DHR process - awareness raising recommendation themes
DHR process - other recommendation themes
Extracted recommendations
3 recommendations pulled from the report · 2 matched to organisations in the index
Addressed to
St. Helens Community Safety Partnership | Primary Care Services | 5 Borough Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | Age UK Mid Mersey | Chrysalis Centre for Change | Helena Partnerships
The panel recommends that relevant agencies consider the development of a protocol where elderly persons identified as carers and where mental health features in the relationship, are signposted as appropriate to primary care, secondary care and 3rd party sectors to ensure access to help and support.
Addressed to
St. Helens Community Safety Partnership | St. Helens Council | NHS St. Helens CCG | 5 Borough Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | Age UK Mid Mersey | Chrysalis Centre for Change | Helena Partnerships
The panel considers that the case could be recognised as an opportunity to deliver a local publicity campaign to challenge perceptions and heighten awareness around mental health and the elderly. The campaign could target not just the elderly, but families, carers, and those practitioners working closest with the elderly, to educate and breakdown barriers and stigmas associated with mental health, to promote health and wellbeing and to promote services available.
The panel recommends that the issues regarding drugs dosage and interactions identified by the review (see sections 9.13/14 overview report) are formally reported to GP practice 2 as learning points, and the value of meaningful detailed patient notes, the recording of decisions and rationale be considered as learning points for both GP practices. (see section 9.15 overview report.)