Tragic death of Blackpool teenager, 17, sparks questions over prescribed medication
PLUS: Fylde Coast super council news, a man jailed for his role in summer disorder in Blackpool and hotels feel the pressure
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
Today, we lead on an especially sad story - the death of 17-year-old Blackpool teenager Imogen Heap.
It’s an important story to tell because a coroner has raised concerns that further tragedies similar to hers if action is not taken.
The prescription drug is widely prescribed - often to young people reporting symptoms of anxiety - but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence does not recommend it be used for this purpose.
We also have the latest as debate continues into the idea of merging Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde Councils into one super-authority.
We couldn’t fit a full feature on this into the newsletter - but you can read about the man from Fleetwood jailed for after throwing missiles at police and Rebellion Festival punks here.
And hotels, particularly smaller businesses in Blackpool are feeling the pressure despite a strong year for tourism.
The death of Blackpool teenager Imogen Heap has prompted a coroner to call for change amid fears over the “underappreciated” danger of her prescribed medication.
Imogen was aged just 17 when she ingested an amount of Propranolol in a bid to take her own life. She quickly changed her mind after taking the tablets but although she called for help within hours, the drug had already begun its fatal effect.
Concerns had previously been raised over the safety of the beta blocker in 2019, when the death of a 24-year-old woman who overdosed using her prescription medication prompted a national investigation.
Fears were raised over the “under recognised toxicity” of the drug, which is primarily used to treat heart conditions and migraines but is also frequently given to help patients deal with symptoms of anxiety.
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB, now HSSIB) launched a probe and while guidance was introduced warning over its usage in treating anxiety, little changed practically.
According to the National Poisons Information Service (NPIS), 172 people intentionally overdosed using the drug in 2022/23, of which 108 were on prescriptions to manage anxiety.
Tragically, 12 of those people died.
In Blackpool, Imogen had been given the medication to help treat anxiety and depression and as those conditions took hold last October, she made the tragic decision to take a “very high quantity” of the medication, along with smaller amounts of two others.
Within a very short space of time, she regretted her decision and decided to call for help - it would take almost four fours for an ambulance to arrive and after calling at 6.10pm she wasn’t taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital until 8.30pm.
The backlog of ambulances queuing outside meant she still couldn’t go in but almost an hour later, while still in the ambulance she began vomiting and her blood pressure dropped. It wasn’t until 10.13pm when she began to have seizures that she was taken into the A&E department where she received advanced life support and was transferred to the Intensive Treatment Unit.
Despite extensive efforts from healthcare workers, Imogen continued to deteriorate and suffered cardiac arrest. The following afternoon “an unexpected and unusual reaction to extubation” accelerated her deterioration and Imogen died.
An inquest into her death was held at Blackpool Town Hall in July and heard from two consultants who agreed Propranolol is widely prescribed and often to relatively young people reporting symptoms of anxiety, but that there can be an under-appreciation of how toxic it can be at elevated levels.
Concluding the inquest, senior coroner Alan Wilson said: “At a time when she was low in mood, Imogen Heap ingested a very large quantity of tablets, mostly prescribed propranolol medication, with a view to ending her life. Within a period of around 2.5 hours of beginning to ingest the medication, she decided to telephone for help, but by that time the extent of the overdose was going to prove fatal.”
After hearing the evidence and reviewing the HSSIB investigation, Mr Wilson said he remains concerned that further such tragedies could occur if further action does not take place.
When that investigation was published in 2020, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) responded by saying it does not recommend the use of propranolol in anxiety and that it would add a footnote to its headache guidance to warn the drug may worsen depression. It continued to say it would discuss the issue with the British National Formulary (BNF) and the NHS.
Issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths report which legally requires either action or an explanation why it is felt action is not needed, Mr Wilson warned there is still an underappreciation of the level of risk posed by an elevated level of propranolol medication.
He wrote: “It is recommended that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence reviews and updates guidance on the use of propranolol in the treatment of anxiety and migraine, with particular reference to the toxicity of propranolol in overdose.”
In response, a NICE spokesperson told The Blackpool Lead: “NICE can confirm we have received the coroner’s prevention of future deaths report in relation to Imogen Heap. We will consider the issues raised by the report and respond to the coroner directly.
“We follow an established process when making sure our published guidelines are current and accurate and take a proactive approach to responding to events (with an assessment of priority) that may impact on our recommendations.”
Folding Fylde into single coastal council with Blackpool could be 'disastrous'
The MP for Fylde has warned the creation of a single coastal council encompassing Blackpool would be “disastrous” for the wider area.
Andrew Snowden was speaking after it revealed a group of Lancashire Labour MPs has called on the government to abolish the county’s 15 existing local authorities and replace them with just three or four much larger ones.
While the politicians pushing the plan – in a letter sent to Whitehall last week – did not suggest which areas should be merged, the move could lead to the creation of a new standalone ‘unitary’ authority for the whole of the Fylde coast and possibly also including Lancaster.
Mr Snowden said the trio of councils currently covering the Fylde – Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde itself – are serving “very distinctive and different places”.
Calls for Blackpool hotel booking system to prevent large commissions leaking out to online sites
Blackpool’s B&B owners have faced a ‘perfect storm’ of challenges during the 2024 season – including an increase in cancellations by guests who fear missing a hospital appointment.
That was the message to Blackpool Council as part of calls for more support to be given to smaller holiday businesses in the town.
Ian White, a director of hoteliers group StayBlackpool, told a meeting of the full council issues including the cost of living crisis, uncertainty due to the General Election and sporting events such as the European Football Championships and the Olympics had impacted trade.
But it comes at the same time as independent think tank Centre for Cities has published data saying Blackpool ranks highest in the country for spending by overnight visitors.
Rising energy costs are putting pressure on households across Blackpool, making homes harder to heat and afford. That’s why Cosy Homes in Lancashire is helping thousands of residents access grants for home improvements—from better insulation to that new boiler you've been needing. With the support of 13 local councils, £80 million in funding has already been secured to make homes greener and more affordable across the town.
Is your home next? Apply today.
Before we move onto recommendations for the week ahead for our paid subscribers, we promised an update on what’s going on with Eat Indian. As a reminder, they were hit with a zero food hygiene rating upon opening in July and that hasn’t changed.
Conversations had by The Blackpool Lead indicated that while subsequent visits by Blackpool Council did prove standards had improved to at least the legal threshold, there were still improvements to be made and so Eat Indian hadn’t arranged for a formal revisit to get a new score.
But we were informed this week that this revisit has now been booked so, hopefully, a much-improved score on the horizon for this Indian deli.
And now onto our recommendations of arts, culture and things to do for the week or so ahead, which are only available to paying supporters of The Blackpool Lead…
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