"You must think that sounds ridiculous": Untrained worker left to look after dad-of-two minutes before he was found 'unresponsive'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A support worker at a mental health hospital where a dad was found 'unresponsive' in his bedroom had not been given formal training when carrying out observations on patients, an inquest has heard. 'Life of the party' dad-of-two Niall Tyrrell was found on the floor of his locked bedroom at Park House, a mental health hospital run by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), on May 2, 2022.

Niall, 28, who was deemed at high risk of suicide, self-harm and absconding, was moved from an acute ward to a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), called the Juniper Ward, days before his death, on the evening of April 28. READ MORE Man found 'unresponsive' in bedroom at psychiatric hospital days after mum told staff he was 'suicidal' READ MORE Three young women, three tragic deaths, one mental health hospital On the second day of an inquest into his death, support worker Frederick Tolbert told the court that he was on shift the night of the fatal incident performing observations on patients.

Mr Tolbert admitted that he had not been given any formal observation training at the time. Niall had been decreased to 15-minute observations upon being transferred from Mulberry Ward, the acute unit, to the PICU, despite having been on one-to-one constant observations on the previous ward days earlier due to his risk of self-harm, suicide and of him absconding.

At around 12am on May 1, Mr Tolbert told the court that he had seen Niall in the lounge. When filling out the observations sheet, which should have included a written note and involve staff engaging with patients, Mr Talbot failed to write any description.