A woman died after she was left lying unconscious in a Worcester flowerbed after a misunderstanding over who should call an ambulance.

Now a coroner has warned that other deaths could occur unless firm policies are established over which authorities should raise the alarm.

It follows an inquest into the death of 48-year-old Donna Louise Smith who died of acute alcohol intoxication at Worcestershire Royal Hospital on March 4, 2023.

The inquest heard that at 6.54am that morning a Wychavon District Council CCTV operator spotted Ms Smith lying in a flowerbed outside the Maggs Day Centre in Deansway.

After two hours the operator became concerned for her well-being so contacted West Mercia Police control room, explaining that Ms Smith “might be subject to hypothermia”.

The call handler replied “that would need to go to the ambulance service”, but neither alerted the ambulance service, wrongly assuming that the other would do so.

At the hearing the communications officer said she felt she was being clear at the time, but accepted that her comment could have been ambiguous.

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About 20 minutes later a member of the public dialled 999 and paramedics provided Advanced Life Support before she arrived in hospital.

Now David Reid, Senior Coroner for Worcestershire, who recorded a conclusion of an alcohol-related death, has issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to West Mercia Police and Wychavon District Council.

“Given the evidence which I heard at the inquest, I could not conclude, on the balance of probabilities, that a timely phone call to the ambulance service by either the CCTV operator or the police communications officer would in fact have led to a different outcome in this case,” he said.

But Mr Reid has raised concern about the lack of “formalised written policies, procedures or guidance” governing the relationship between the two authorities over the use of the CCTV cameras in the town centre.

“Furthermore,” he added, “I heard evidence that despite Ms Smith’s death having occurred over 12 months ago, a draft Memorandum of Understanding between West Mercia Police and those operating the CCTV cameras in Worcestershire had not yet been completed or formalised, but rather was still ‘being drawn up’.”

The Force and council must respond to the Coroner’s concerns by July 3.