Errol Graham: Chances missed to help man who starved to death

Opportunities to help a man who starved to death were missed, a safeguarding review has found.

Errol Graham was found dead in his Nottingham flat in 2018, eight months after his employment support allowance (ESA) was withdrawn.

He was suffering severe mental health problems and the review said he could have received support if agencies had communicated better.

It also said improvements made since were helping in similar cases.

A report by the Nottingham City Safeguarding Adults Board, published on Thursday, said Mr Graham, 57, weighed four-and-a-half stone (30kg) when he died.

His body was found by bailiffs who were sent to evict him because he had not paid his rent for seven months.

Housing benefit had been stopped after he had not responded to the Department for Work and Pension's (DWP) repeated requests for information to review his entitlement to ESA, the report said.

His gas had been capped off and his flat - rented from Nottingham City Homes (NCH) - had no heating or hot water.

The report said at the time of his death, Mr Graham had no income for food and utilities.

The review found that while NCH, the DWP and his GP all possessed information on Mr Graham, none had the full picture of how he was living.

It also said that in the last months of his life, Mr Graham was "debilitated by his depression and unable to function".

A letter he wrote, but never sent, it said, showed he had been "in extreme mental health distress".

"Had there been improved communication between agencies, this may have mobilised the help and support he needed," the review said.

"Tragically, the interventions by agencies added to his problems by cutting off vital services."

The report also revealed that Mr Graham had closed himself off from his family when they tried to persuade him to seek help.

NCH, the GP practice and the DWP all told the board they had taken steps to improve information sharing and improve safeguards for vulnerable claimants.

The review found "many improvements have been made" and "there is evidence that these changes are making a difference to people in similar circumstances".

It recommended more checks before "high impact actions" like cutting off gas, better links with tenants' contacts and families, and a national protocol for cooperation between the DWP and safeguarding adult boards.

Alison Turner, Mr Graham's son's partner, told the BBC: "Nothing will bring Errol back and he should never have died in that way with actions aggravating his situation not helping it.

"But the safeguarding report does at least show his life matters.

"The DWP has been able to show me a case where what they have learned from Errol's death has helped a real person in a similar situation get help.

"That gives me some piece of mind because it shows Errol's case has made a difference to others."

A DWP spokesperson said: "This was an incredibly tragic case and our condolences remain with this family."

A spokesperson for Nottingham City Housing Services, formerly Nottingham City Homes, said: "As a direct result of [Errol's] tragic death and the circumstances leading up to it, we have reviewed our data sharing protocols with the DWP and introduced new joint processes to identify any appropriate support that may be required.

"We have also amended our procedures where a single vulnerable adult is at risk of eviction, and now make a referral to our multi-agency Eviction Prevention Panel to collate recent recorded contacts from all agencies involved.

"Our pre-tenancy protocol now includes the gathering of information about a tenant's GP and any other involved services, plus additional contact information for next-of-kin. It also seeks tenants' consent to share relevant information with named agencies and families or representatives where appropriate."

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