Hannah Kilgallon inquest told mental health stable before fatal fire

Hannah Kilgallon had been on leave from Lynfield Mount Hospital in Bradford when the fire took place at her home

There were "no significant concerns" about a woman who died in a fire while on leave from a mental health unit, an inquest has heard.

Hannah Kilgallon was allowed to leave Lynfield Mount, Bradford, in February 2019 but failed to return when agreed.

Dr Sayeed Ashraf told Bradford Coroner's Court it would have been "too heavy-handed" to contact police straight away.

Mrs Kilgallon had recently displayed continued mental stability, he said.

The inquest heard Mrs Kilgallon, 50, suffered with a number of mental health issues including bi-polar disorder, and had spent several periods of time as an inpatient at Lynfield Mount.

She was discharged on 29 January but was due to report back on 4 February. She eventually returned for an appointment on 6 February, and was re-admitted as a voluntary inpatient on 8 February.

This meant she was free to leave the ward as she wanted.

She was found dead at her home in Haworth Road, Bradford, on 10 February 2019.

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The inquest heard Mrs Kilgallon had been an inpatient at the unit from November 2018 until her discharge on 29 January, and had spent periods of time on the Clover Ward - a locked intensive psychiatric care unit, Clover Ward.

She had issues with alcohol and drug misuse. which the inquest heard had a significant impact on her behaviour.

Dr Ashraf told the hearing he did not see the fact she did not return for an appointment on 4 February as a warning sign, as sometimes patients have a valid reason for not attending.

"There were no escalating concerns or issues that were brought to me at the time," he said.

"I was sure at that time, that it did not warrant us going in heavy-handed.

"If there were concerns we could have asked the police to bring the patient back, but the concerns were not there to go about implementing that protocol.

"I did not think it was necessary at the time."

The hearing also heard from Mariam Khan, staff nurse at Lynfield House, who tried to visit Mrs Kilgallon on 10 February after she had again been given informal leave from her admission and not returned.

Ms Khan said there had been no answer when she called at the house, and had contacted police to ask them to carry out a welfare check.

She said she did not contact Mrs Kilgallon's daughters, as the patient had asked for staff not to share information with them about her care.

Ms Khan said: "We did not feel we needed to contact her family at that time and not breach Hannah's wishes."

The inquest continues.