Probe after child rapist - who committed crimes in Blackpool and Oldham - died in his cell at Wymott Prison
An investigation has been carried out into the death of a child rapist at Wymott Prison, near Leyland.
Aged 75, George Rose was jailed for 15 years in May 2021, for a string of sexual offences.
He was found guilty of 22 counts of indecent assault and six counts of rape on a girl in the 1980s - the offences occured in Blackpool and Oldham. The girl reported Rose to Childline and the police were alerted, but she said she was pressurised into dropping the complaint at the time.
By the time he was eventually brought to justice, Rose was an unwell man, suffering from several medical conditions, which included diabetes, transient ischaemic attack (known as a mini stroke) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
He was warned he would likely die behind bars, and it proved to be the case on January 18, 2024, when he was found unresponsive in his cell, aged 77. Now an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death has been completed by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), which has found the quality of his care was “variable”, and has made recommendations on improvements.
What happened?
On May 9, 2023 a GP at Wymott saw Rose after he reported a lump in his abdomen. The GP referred him for an urgent ultrasound, which was completed 15 days later. The results showed that he had a 8.3cm abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA – this is a swelling in the aorta, the artery that carries blood from the heart to the abdomen). The GP referred him to the vascular team at Royal Preston Hospital.
On June 7, an appointment with the vascular team was booked for Mr Rose but the prison was unable to take him to the appointment due to staffing issues. Another appointment was arranged for August 25 and escort staff took Rose to his appointment, however the hospital had cancelled the clinic due to doctors strikes. The hospital had failed to inform healthcare that his appointment was cancelled.
A consultant vascular surgeon saw Rose on November 29 and explained the AAA diagnosis and prognosis to him. On December 18, ose discussed a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNACPR) order - meaning in the event of a heart attack or if his breathing stopped, he would not be resuscitated - with a GP which was agreed and signed.
A month later, on January 18, 2024, an officer found Rose unresponsive in his cell. She radioed a medical emergency code and healthcare staff attended. As a DNACPR was in place, resuscitation was not initiated. Paramedics arrived and confirmed that Mr Rose had died.
His cause of death was a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Findings
The PPO report said: “The clinical reviewer concluded that the care Mr Rose received at Wymott was variable. Although there were elements of care which were equivalent to what he could have expected to receive in the community, there were some aspects of his care that were not.
“Mr Rose was not adequately assessed and screened during his first and secondary health screens. As a result, he was not referred for AAA screening as he should have been. Mr Rose had missed one hospital appointment due to the lack of communication and partnership working between healthcare staff and prison staff which had the potential to negatively impact on his health. These aspects of Mr Rose’s care were not equivalent.”
What has happened since?
A healthcare administration manager at Wymott confirmed that there is now a process in place which ensures that prisoners at Wymott are offered AAA screening when they turn 65 years old, in line with the national guidance.
Since Mr Rose’s death the prison has also begun work to explore the issues around providing escorts for external hospital appointments which includes:
• an operational procedure for healthcare, administration and prison staff about the escort process
• ensuring that all healthcare, administration and prison staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to the escort process and the escalation process,
• an urgent review of the escort profile (the number of staff allocated to escort duties at any given time)
• completion of an audit within three months of the implementation of the local operational procedure to ensure that the escort process has measurably improved.