Huge opportunity missed' to help woman, family say

A vulnerable woman with schizophrenia who lay dead in her flat for more than three years was "left to fend for herself", her family said.

Laura Winham, 41, was found dead in a flat in Woking, Surrey, by her mother and brother, Marilyn and Roy Winham, in May 2021.

The inquest ruled her cause of death was "unascertained" and a time of death could not be pinpointed, but a calendar in Ms Winham's flat had dates crossed off until 1 November, 2017.

The inquest heard that Ms Winham's "mummified and almost skeletal" body had been found at her social housing property in Devonshire Avenue in May 2021.

Ms Winham's sister, Nicky Winham, told Surrey Coroner's Court that Laura had twice been sectioned and cut off contact with her family because she believed they were trying harm her.

Director of practice, assurance and safeguarding at Surrey County Council, Luke Addams, told the inquest that the authority "could have done more" for Ms Winham.

Assistant coroner for Surrey, Dr Karen Henderson, ruled there were "lost opportunities" for multiple agencies in the run-up to Laura Winham’s death, including Woking Borough Council and its former contractor, New Vision Homes; the Department for Work and Pensions, and Surrey County Council's adult social care team.

Dr Henderson described the county council's adult social care team investigation as "perfunctory in almost every way" but added that it was not possible to conclude these lost opportunities "materially contributed" to Ms Winham's death.

The court previously heard that Ms Winham's family last met her in 2009, and contact through social media had stopped in 2014 after she sent them a Facebook message which read: "It is best to have minimum/no contact. And communications with the family. It is totally out of my hands. There is nothing I can do. Everything I say will get repeated and relayed back. Be patient."

The family said they believed they were doing the right thing by respecting Ms Winham's wishes to have no contact with them. Her sister Nicky told the court: "We knew that contact with us exacerbated her mental health difficulties."

Ms Winham's mother and brother found her remains after trying to make contact in January 2021 when her father's health was deteriorating.

The inquest heard that Ms Winham had written in calendar entries that she was "starving."

She also expressed her fears about shopping for food, with a diary entry in October 2017 reading: "Whole month since my last food shop. I can't believe I'm surviving this long."

Dr Henderson also ruled that, had Woking Borough Council and New Vision Homes, WBC'S landlord contractor from 2015 to April 2022, flagged Ms Winham as vulnerable, it would have been evident that she required further assistance.

The coroner also said the DWP should have been "more proactive" after Ms Winham's Disability Living Allowance benefit was stopped due to her not applying for a Personal Independence Payment.

The court heard she chose not apply because "she could not cope with the invasive medical check-up."

Executive director of adults, wellbeing and health partnerships at Surrey County Council, Claire Edgar, apologised for Ms Winham's care and said it had "worked hard to act on learning from this case."

In a statement Ms Winham's family said there was a "huge opportunity missed" to take action after police raised concerns that she had little food or money.

They added "Laura was clearly a person potentially at risk but she wasn't deemed worthy of visiting. She was left to fend herself.

"Laura was a much-loved, much-missed daughter and sister. Her family did everything in their power to support her as she battled her mental health struggles until it became apparent that she may harm herself unless they backed away."