A CORONER has requested Dorset Police make a host of changes following the inquest into the death of Gaia Pope.
Miss Pope, 19, went missing from Swanage on November 7, 2017, and wasn’t found until November 18, 2017, in undergrowth on a clifftop less than a mile away.
Following a 12-week inquest at Bournemouth Town Hall, a jury returned a conclusion her death was caused or contributed to by her mental health and mental state, as well as her not being referred to the community mental health team.
READ MORE: Gaia Pope: What the jury concluded about her death
And Senior Coroner for Dorset, Rachael Griffin, said she would be writing to a number of organisations and producing a prevention of future deaths report.
Ms Griffin said she would be writing to chief constable Scott Chilton, regarding her concerns.
She said: “First of all, the substance of some of the policies, namely the concern for welfare policy, missing person policy, although that is under review, and the call handling and grading and deployment of resources policies.
“I will also be writing to Scott Chilton to bring to his attention my concerns about the need for training with those policies and the need for refresher training.
“I shall also be writing to Scott Chilton on the basis of the record keeping process requesting consideration for the review of records across Dorset Police to consider further training on record keeping. The evidence before me, after initial training there is no training on record keeping.
“In respect of learning from mistakes I am satisfied there is a review in place at Dorset Police, I do not have concerns this creates risk of a future death.”
It comes after weeks of evidence surrounding the handling of Miss Pope’s disappearance, including an officer laughing when her aunt phoned a number of times on the day she went missing, an officer not handing over the search properly after his shift and an officer altering logs weeks after the teenager’s death.
Ms Griffin said she would also be to chief executive of University Hospitals Dorset regarding the provision of resourcing of the epilepsy care.
The coroner further request a policy is in place at Dorset Healthcare on how staff deal with victims of sexual assault, and a urging the trust communicates better with GPs following mental health act assessments.
The chief executives of Dorset Council and BCP Council, Matt Prosser and Graham Farrant respectively, will also be contacted by Ms Griffin.
The coroner requesting the seven-day period for the submission of improved mental health paperwork to a GP following a mental health act assessment reduced to 72 hours.
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