‘How others see us’, an occasional series, No.2: The Londoner’s Andrew Kersley revisits the tragic death of Waltham Forest resident Tracey Turnell and eviscerates LBWF

The Londoner has just published Andrew Kersley’s forensic investigation of the tragic death of Waltham Forest resident Tracey Turnell, the so called ‘body in the wheelchair’ case, here:

https://www.the-londoner.co.uk/tracey-turnell-death-wheelchair-walthamstow/

It is well worth reading in full, particularly for those who still believe LBWF’s much repeated claim that it puts residents first in everything it does.

Here’s a taste:

‘The findings in Tracey’s SAR [Safeguarding Adult Review] were written by an independent social care consultant, a former nurse and council worker, named Betty Lynch. Lynch concluded that the council had, over the course of nine years, repeatedly failed to show proper “depth”, “curiosity” or “rigour” in handling…[Tracey’s] case…

…In response, the council produced a pastel flow chart of new bureaucratic procedures, which it claimed would stop it from ever happening again. With the publication of Tracey’s anonymised SAR in October 2024, there was no public outcry or local reporting; no council or cabinet meetings even acknowledged its existence’.

‘He [the coroner] reserved particular fury for the Waltham Forest social services team. John Binding, who has acted as the council’s adult safeguarding lead since November 2024, had suggested to the court that the “missed opportunities” before Tracey’s death were solely the result of the fact that “resources are tight”…[The coroner] was unconvinced. The department was dominated by a “phenomenon of out of sight, out of mind”, the coroner claimed, and social workers either ignored any concerns that would require proactive work, or put in the minimal amount of effort to support the vulnerable’. 

See also links below.