Samuel Thomas Lindor Carroll · Prevention of Future Deaths report

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Issued 27 Oct 2016•North Yorkshire (West)

Published report and response evidence

This report’s concerns and statements found in recipients’ published responses. Statements are included even where no link to an individual concern is recorded. A link shows an evidence connection; it does not assign responsibility.

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Concerns
2

Raised in this report

Recipients
3

Named on the report

Responses found
2

Of 3 recipients

Stated actions
7

Described in responses

Full report text

This is the full text from the original published report.

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Concerns and recipient responses

Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

Report evidence summary

Concerns raised2

  1. Failure of ambulance services to ask for consent before sharing information about suicidal feelings or hospital attendance
    Part of recurring concern: Unreliable consent controls for safety-critical information sharing
  2. Failure of police officers to ask for consent before sharing information about suicidal feelings or hospital attendance
    Part of recurring concern: Failure to establish patients’ consent for family involvement in mental health carePart of recurring concern: Unreliable consent controls for safety-critical information sharing

Stated actions An action is something a recipient says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to a concern raised.7

  1. North Yorkshire Police

    Add instruction to training on eliciting consent to inform a nominated person about a suicidal individual's location and mental wellbeing concerns.

  2. North Yorkshire Police

    Reiterate to staff the availability and role of the First Response Service.

  3. North Yorkshire Police

    Amend the Mental Health and Suicidal People Policy to reflect the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice.

  4. North Yorkshire Police

    Evaluate the Mental Health Awareness training programme through a randomised controlled trial and seek College of Policing approval.

  5. North Yorkshire Police

    Establish a Suicide-Safer and Mental Health Friendly City and County in partnership with public health directors.

  6. North Yorkshire Police

    Make the College of Policing mental-health and suicidality Authorised Professional Practice available to police staff.

  7. North Yorkshire Police

    Deliver the Mental Health Awareness training programme to remaining public-facing staff after the initial tranche of approximately 200 officers and staff.

Respondent positions A position is what a recipient says about a concern when it does not describe a specific action.4

  1. Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

    The evidential basis for concluding that ambulance clinicians failed to ask about contacting family is unclear and was not explored with YAS.

    Disputes the concernThe respondent disagreed with part of the concern or the basis for it.
  2. Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

    Existing welfare-assessment and referral practices, including asking about family contact, are considered sufficient to address the concern.

    Existing arrangements considered sufficientThe respondent said that existing arrangements were sufficient, so no further action was needed.
  3. Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

    For patients conveyed to hospital, longer-term management and contacting relatives are primarily the receiving hospital's responsibility, not YAS's.

    Redirects responsibilityThe respondent said that another organisation was responsible for deciding or taking action.
  4. North Yorkshire Police

    Because Mr Carroll appeared capacitated, was an adult, and had been handed over to professionals, officers had no expectation to notify friends or relatives.

    No action considered necessaryThe respondent said that no further action was needed.

Source evidence

How this individual concern was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. Response links show a clear evidence connection; they do not assign responsibility.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Failure of ambulance services to ask for consent before sharing information about suicidal feelings or hospital attendance

Wider context from the report

“1. The Police Officers did not ask Mr Carroll whether he wished, or consented to, anyone being told of the fact he was feeling suicidal or that he was being taken to the Hospital. 2. The Ambulance service did not ask Mr Carroll if he wished, or consented to, anyone being told of the fact he was feeling suicidal and being taken to Hospital. 3. As a consequence no family or friends were alerted to Mr Carroll being taken to or discharged from Hospital following an earlier expression of suicidal ideation. ”

Is this part of a recurring concern?

Yes — Unreliable consent controls for safety-critical information sharing.

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Source evidence

How this individual concern was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. Response links show a clear evidence connection; they do not assign responsibility.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Failure of police officers to ask for consent before sharing information about suicidal feelings or hospital attendance

Wider context from the report

“1. The Police Officers did not ask Mr Carroll whether he wished, or consented to, anyone being told of the fact he was feeling suicidal or that he was being taken to the Hospital. 2. The Ambulance service did not ask Mr Carroll if he wished, or consented to, anyone being told of the fact he was feeling suicidal and being taken to Hospital. 3. As a consequence no family or friends were alerted to Mr Carroll being taken to or discharged from Hospital following an earlier expression of suicidal ideation. ”

Is this part of a recurring concern?

Yes — Failure to establish patients’ consent for family involvement in mental health care; Unreliable consent controls for safety-critical information sharing.

Open source report

Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Add instruction to training on eliciting consent to inform a nominated person about a suicidal individual's location and mental wellbeing concerns.

Verbatim wording from the response

“In light of your report, I will make sure that this training includes instruction to staff to make sure that steps are taken to elicit consent to inform a nominated person of their location and the concerns for their mental wellbeing. This must be balanced against considerations of whether that nominated person may potentially exacerbate the situation, given that feelings of suicidality often emanate from relationship / familial difficulties.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-North-Yorkshire-Police
Page 2 · response
Published 27 October 2016

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Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Reiterate to staff the availability and role of the First Response Service.

Verbatim wording from the response

“The investigation by BDCT also made observation that NYP staff could have contacted the First Response Service operated by the Trust to accelerate the process of mental state assessment. Again, prior to receipt of your Regulation 28 Notice, the availability and functionality of the First Response Service was reiterated to staff in the Craven District. However, I will ensure that this valuable service is again communicated to our staff.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-North-Yorkshire-Police
Page 2 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Amend the Mental Health and Suicidal People Policy to reflect the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice.

Verbatim wording from the response

“This APP has been made available to NYP staff and will form the basis of an NYP Mental Health and Suicidal People Policy, which is expected to be published in April 2017.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-North-Yorkshire-Police
Page 3 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Evaluate the Mental Health Awareness training programme through a randomised controlled trial and seek College of Policing approval.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Since Mr Carroll’s death, North Yorkshire Police has commenced a pioneering Mental Health Awareness training programme for officers, which has been developed in collaboration with the College of Policing, University of York, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust (TEWV) and people who have experienced significant mental health issues. This face-to-face training, which commenced on 18th May 2016 and was delivered by mental health professionals from TEWV to the first tranche of around 200 operational officers and staff, is to be subject of evaluation by means of randomised control trial. Once evaluated, it is anticipated that this will be rolled-out to all public-facing NYP staff. It is expected that the evaluation of the training programme will be completed by March 2017 and once approved by the College of Policing, it will be rolled-out across the remaining staff throughout 2017/2018.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-North-Yorkshire-Police
Page 2 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Establish a Suicide-Safer and Mental Health Friendly City and County in partnership with public health directors.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Thank you for affording me the opportunity to respond to your concerns raised within the above notice relating to the tragic death of Samuel Carroll. North Yorkshire Police is committed to improving the way we respond to people experiencing mental distress and recognises the importance of capitalising on every opportunity to prevent suicide. Indeed, the organisation has committed the aim of establishing a Suicide-Safer and Mental Health Friendly City and County, in partnership with the Directors of Public Health for York and North Yorkshire, which was launched on 28th October 2016.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-North-Yorkshire-Police
Page 1 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Make the College of Policing mental-health and suicidality Authorised Professional Practice available to police staff.

Verbatim wording from the response

“On 10th October 2016, the College of Policing launched Authorised Professional Practice (APP) in respect of mental health and suicidality. The document includes the salient advice:”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-North-Yorkshire-Police
Page 3 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Deliver the Mental Health Awareness training programme to remaining public-facing staff after the initial tranche of approximately 200 officers and staff.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Since Mr Carroll’s death, North Yorkshire Police has commenced a pioneering Mental Health Awareness training programme for officers, which has been developed in collaboration with the College of Policing, University of York, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust (TEWV) and people who have experienced significant mental health issues. This face-to-face training, which commenced on 18th May 2016 and was delivered by mental health professionals from TEWV to the first tranche of around 200 operational officers and staff, is to be subject of evaluation by means of randomised control trial. Once evaluated, it is anticipated that this will be rolled-out to all public-facing NYP staff. It is expected that the evaluation of the training programme will be completed by March 2017 and once approved by the College of Policing, it will be rolled-out across the remaining staff throughout 2017/2018.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-North-Yorkshire-Police
Page 2 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

The evidential basis for concluding that ambulance clinicians failed to ask about contacting family is unclear and was not explored with YAS.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Having reviewed the statements and documents from the attending YAS clinicians, Mr Carroll was reporting suicidal ideations, was a consenting adult and was taken to a hospital Emergency Department, as a place of safety. They further report that Mr Carroll was on his mobile phone throughout the journey and they believed that he was in contact with his brother. Given that this is all the information that was available to you from YAS, it is difficult to understand the evidential basis for your concern, and as this was not”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-Yorkshire-Ambulance-Service
Page 1 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Existing welfare-assessment and referral practices, including asking about family contact, are considered sufficient to address the concern.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Having discussed this matter with a number of colleagues and managers from both the Clinical and Operations Directorates within the Trust, I can confirm that whilst not formalised in any written process, it is standard practice amongst clinicians as part of any welfare assessment of the patient to ask if there is any family member that can be contacted.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-Yorkshire-Ambulance-Service
Page 2 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

For patients conveyed to hospital, longer-term management and contacting relatives are primarily the receiving hospital's responsibility, not YAS's.

Verbatim wording from the response

“If a decision is made to convey a patient such as Mr Carroll to a hospital or other appropriate place of care, there are commonly discussions had with the patient as to whether a family member can be contacted. The next of kin contact details are recorded on the Patient Care Record (PCR) whenever these can be obtained and this is then handed over to the receiving hospital or healthcare organisation on arrival, along with the duty of care to it. It would be expected that a longer term management plan is then put in place by the hospital for the patient prior to discharge which would include making contact with the patient's relatives where appropriate.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-Yorkshire-Ambulance-Service
Page 2 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Because Mr Carroll appeared capacitated, was an adult, and had been handed over to professionals, officers had no expectation to notify friends or relatives.

Verbatim wording from the response

“As you have noted, officers did not make contact with friends or relatives before Mr Carroll was taken by ambulance to hospital. Given his apparent possession of mental capacity, his adulthood and the handover to other professionals for his onward care, there has previously been no expectation that officers would make such intimations.”

Source location

2016-0384-Response-by-North-Yorkshire-Police
Page 1 · response
Published 27 October 2016

Open published response
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Information checked against the published report and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Official responses located
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Data last updated 7 September 2026