An elderly mother and her daughter were found dead in their east London flat five months after police had raised urgent care concerns about the family, a review has found.
The bodies were discovered in a state of decomposition when officers forced entry to their Redbridge home in June last year.
An investigation has now outlined how the 83-year-old mother and her 56-year-old daughter were failed by care services, which may have led to “the death of one or both of the women”.
A report commissioned by Redbridge town hall, which gives the mother the pseudonym Jasmine and her daughter the name Rowena to protect the identity of surviving family members, said neighbours who had not seen the women “for some time, and had noticed flies at the windows and a smell coming from the flat” called police.
It states: “The police found the bodies of both women in a state of decomposition.
“Jasmine was in her bedroom and Rowena in the hall, with no signs of violence or any previous forced entry. The flat evidenced conditions of neglect and hoarding.”
Months earlier, on January 6, 2023, the Met was called to a neighbour dispute at the women’s home and recorded “bizarre behaviour” and having to “demand to see Jasmine who was bed-bound”.
Officers considered it evident that Rowena could not look after her mother and said neighbours reported “ongoing strange encounters and outbursts” from the daughter who had seen a “huge deterioration in her mental health”.
The force raised a safeguarding concern with the local authority that same month, but when social services and GPs were unable to contact the women they did not follow up.
“It is of concern that the safeguarding procedures appear to have been left in limbo, with no managerial overview or monitoring,” the report states.
It adds: “The multi-agency safeguarding procedures were initiated in January 2023 with regard to Jasmine but lapsed into inactivity without being formally closed, resulting in Jasmine not being safeguarded and, potentially the death of one or both of the women.”
Redbridge council on Thursday confirmed it had updated its “dealing with emergencies” policy and adopted all of the report’s 13 recommendations. Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital NHS Trust (BHRUT) said it was “reviewing our policies and procedures” following the case.
The council’s investigation found that signs Rowena was abusive towards her mother had been ignored by medical authorities during the women’s many interactions with them between 2020 and 2022.
Her “threatening and controlling” behaviour had resulted in the pair becoming estranged from her brother and other family members.
Police attended the home in October 2020 and Rowena told officers that she had unplugged her landline as she believed her neighbour “had wired everyone’s landline phone” and was “protected by politicians”.
The Met shared their concerns with social worker in Redbridge’s mental health service team but there is no record of their report being assessed or any action being taken.
GPs, Redbridge social services and BHRUT did not follow concerns about possible neglect of Jasmine by Rowena, despite multiple hospital visits and paramedics being called to the home on at least two occasions.
In December 2015 Rowena was referred to services over her diabetes, but did not attend appointments. The report states it “is of concern that, having had an appointment with the Diabetes Service and her need for support, presumably, established, that the referral wasn’t followed up” by either the NHS trust or Rowena’s GP.
Post-mortems found Jasmine died from pneumonia and an abscess of her chest, while Rowena died from heart disease.
A Redbridge council spokesman said: “Upon notification of these tragic deaths, an urgent multi-agency review of the circumstances was immediately initiated, and several actions were promptly implemented.
“As part of our response, we've amended and updated our “Dealing with Emergencies” policy and procedure, which has been disseminated to all frontline staff.
“The policy outlines the steps for health and social care staff to follow when contact with a person cannot be established, ensuring their status is promptly investigated. The policy also includes guidance on forced entry where there are concerns about the person's safety and whereabouts.
“The review's recommendations have been incorporated into a comprehensive multi-agency action plan. This plan ensures that all recommendations, including those from Safeguarding Adults Reviews, are acted upon and tracked for completion.”
A spokesman for BHRUT added: “In line with the recommendations for our Trust in the report, we are reviewing our policies and procedures to see where improvements can be made.”
An inquest at North London Coroner’s Court heard a post-mortem examination found their cause of death to be unascertained, while no toxicology report could be carried out due to the passage of time.
Tasneem suffered from diabetes and was a carer for her elderly mother, who was almost immobile and had “ailments” but did not suffer from any known medical conditions.
