Council admits it should have checked in on vulnerable woman

A vulnerable woman found mummified in her flat four years after she died should have been checked on in person rather than by letter, a council has admitted. 

Laura Winham, who had schizophrenia, was discovered at her Surrey home in May 2021 but she is believed to have died in November 2017, aged 38. 

The state of her remains meant she had to be identified through dental records.

Ms Winham was classed as an adult at risk by Surrey County Council in October 2017 before she was referred to the local authority's Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub team, an inquest heard today. 

It passed down the details to the Woking locality team, which tried to call her on a number which police already said was out of use and sent her a letter which gave her two weeks to reply before the case was closed.

Luke Addams, director of practice, assurance and safeguarding at Surrey County Council, told the inquiry it was an 'inappropriate method of contact'.

He said: 'The letter said if we don't hear within two weeks, we'll close it.

'I think there should have been a visit instead of a letter, but I wasn't there at the time.'

An initial police referral said Miss Winham was clean, not neglecting herself and had enough food and money that it was not an immediate risk.

But Addams said it was a small amount and needed to be followed up.

He claimed several improvements have been made within Surrey County Council 'since this tragic and very sad death'.

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Vulnerable woman who was found mummified stopped claiming benefits before her death, inquest hears

Woking Borough Council admitted two vulnerability marks should have been added to Miss Winham's housing records- one for deafness and another for her mental health issues.

'It was clear that the WBC housing team were aware of Miss Winham's vulnerabilities and sensory difficulties both in 2006 to 2010 and again in 2014,' Louise Strongitharm, the council's strategic director for communities, told the inquest.

'Despite this there were no vulnerability flags on Miss Winham's electronic housing records.'

She assured Miss Winham's family that the council had taken her death 'extremely seriously' and 'significant action' has been taken to learn from it.

'In April 2022, WBC brought its housing landlord service back in-house with the aim of improving customer service and delivering a more integrated offer to tenants,' Miss Strongitharm said in a written statement.

'This gives the council more control and oversight of the service delivered to them.

'WBC has changed its whole approach where no access is granted for annual gas servicing so that more practical steps are taken to gain access.

'The process includes contacting next of kin. In addition, the council has employed a dedicated housing lawyer so that access can be granted quickly through courts.'

She added that WBC conducted a tenancy audit following Miss Winham's death to check on the wellbeing of tenants.

Surrey's Coroner's Court was told Miss Winham began claiming disability benefits in April 2003 before they were stopped in March 2016.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sent her letters in February 2016 asking her to make a claim for the new Personal Independence Payment which was replacing the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

One letter stated that she may be required to attend a medical but Miss Winham did not respond and the benefit was cut on March 4, 2016.

She wrote to Woking Borough Council highlighting her concerns over the DWP procedures, the inquest heard.

'I wish to express that I have only lived on my savings and DLA benefit,' Miss Winham said.

'I have not applied for any other benefit within the last two years to support myself. It was a personal decision and the reason is I could not cope with the invasive medical check up and their support network at the time.'

Ian Barker, who has worked at the DWP for 24 years, told the inquest that the government department was not made aware of Miss Winham's concerns.

'If she made a claim and expressed her concerns, there is a possibility the decision could be made on a paper-based medical assessment or a home visit could be made,' he said.

He admitted that at the time, once a benefit claim was ended there were no actions taken to make sure this was the appropriate action.

But Mr Barker insisted the DWP took steps to change this in 2019 - before Miss Winham's body was discovered.

He said: 'The difference we have now is we have a number of vulnerability checks. We text the customer, attempt to call and if that is not successful we have home visits to check the customer is okay.

'We also work with local authorities for safeguarding referrals, reach out to police and community nurses.

'There are a number of cases and we wouldn't terminate benefits until a customer is aware of that decision.'

Miss Winham's family previously told the inquest they will never forget the horror of finding her 'mummified' body.

They had reluctantly kept their distance for years because her schizophrenia had caused her to believe they would harm her.

Her sister Nicky told the court that eventually her worried mother and brother had gone to her flat in Woking, on May 24, 2021.

'They were shouting her name and looking through the letterbox,' she said on Tuesday.

'My brother saw what he thought was a seriously decomposed body. They called the police and forced entry and found a mummified, almost skeletal body.

'The shock of finding her this way can never be forgotten.'

Miss Winham was born severely deaf and wore hearing aids, and she had surgery aged 18 to repair a hole in her heart.

Nicky told the coroner: 'As a child, Laura was bright, fun, loving and engaging with a beautifully infectious laugh and a cheeky sense of humour with a love for practical jokes.

'There were signs of depression in her teenage years which became more serious around the time of her heart operation.'

Miss Winham's behaviour had become 'erratic' and she was experiencing 'delusional thoughts', Nicky said in a written statement.

'In the last reply to my brother, in 2014, Laura wrote: 'It is best to have minimum/no contact'.'

Miss Winham's family last heard from her in 2014 before she blocked them on Facebook, and last saw her in person in 2009, assistant coroner for Surrey Dr Karen Henderson was told.

Nicky said on March 31, 2021, she contacted New Vision Homes, which managed her sister's social housing for Woking Borough Council.

'I asked if they had any contact with Laura, to which they responded that due to privacy and confidentiality, they couldn't help me,' she said.

A manager at the agency logged the concerns and a council worked completed a 'door-knock' at Miss Winham's home but 'there was no answer', the inquest heard.

Nicky said her sister's final shop had been on September 4, 2017, and there had been minimal amount of food in her fridge when she died: a tub of margarine, a bottle of tomato sauce and a few tea bags, but no dried food or frozen food.

Nicky, who said her 'extremely caring and nurturing' sister had 'demonstrated skills to be a very talented painter', believes she died on November 2, 2017, as she used to tick off each date on her calendar and this was the final one marked.

Two bags of loose change were found in her flat and her family said this was the last of her cash.

She said several letters to a local reverend were found, torn up, which were pieced back together by police.

'The common theme through all of them was, 'I don't have very much food, I don't have much money left, my phone is broken – I don't know what to do',' she said.

Pathologist Dr Olaf Biedrzycki told the coroner via video link that the cause of death was unascertained.

The inquest continues and is expected to end on Thursday.