MOTHER WHO DROWNED BABY IN CANAL ORDERED TO BE DETAINED INDEFINITELY IN MENTAL HEALTH UNIT
TARGETS to improve care for the mentally ill which were drawn up after a depressed mother drowned her baby in a canal have been fulfilled, health bosses have said.A 14 point action plan was created after an independent inquiry into the death of Emma Jade Dyson died in March 2000.
Emma, four months, was thrown into the Leeds and Liverpool canal opposite Burnley Barracks by her mum Robina Hashim, 32, of Clare Street, Burnley.
Now Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust have said the lessons of the tragedy have been learnt.
On March 14, 2000, Burnley police investigated reports by Miss Hashim that Emma Jade had been snatched from outside toilets in Burnley market square.
The baby was later found drowned in the canal.
Miss Hashim had been released from Burnley General Hospital just days before the tragedy suffering from post natal depression.
Robina Hashim was ordered by a judge at Preston Crown Court to be detained indefinitely in a mental unit after she admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
He was told she had reported hearing voices telling her to put the baby into the water.
The plan includes recommendations for greater communication between social services and mothers with post-natal depression, extra guidance for junior doctors on ward rounds and a review of record keeping practices in social services, among others.
Victoria Robertson, head of governance and legal affairs for Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust addressed a trust board meeting yesterday.
She said: "We are now to write to the various agencies to mark the end of this very sad learning experience for those who have been involved in this."
