Henry Bangs

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Independent investigation into
the death of Mr Henry Bangs,
a prisoner at HMP Frankland,
on 2 February 2024
A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Third Floor, 10 South Colonnade Email: mail@ppo.gov.uk T l 020 7633 4100
Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Web: www.ppo.gov.uk
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© Crown copyright, 2024
This report is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence,
visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3
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1. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman aims to make a significant contribution to
safer, fairer custody and community supervision. One of the most important ways in
which we work towards that aim is by carrying out independent investigations into
deaths, due to any cause, of prisoners, young people in detention, residents of
approved premises and detainees in immigration centres.
2. If my office is to best assist His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) in
ensuring the standard of care received by those within service remit is appropriate,
our recommendations should be focused, evidenced and viable. This is especially
the case if there is evidence of systemic failure.
3. On 15 October 2001, Mr Henry Bangs was sentenced to life imprisonment for
murder. He died from lung cancer which had spread to other organs on 2 February
2024, while a prisoner at HMP Frankland. He was 71 years old. We offer our
condolences to anyone who knew Mr Bangs.
4. The PPO investigator investigated the non-clinical issues relating to Mr Bangs’ care.
We did not find any non-clinical issues of concern.
5. NHS England commissioned an independent clinical reviewer to review Mr Bangs’
clinical care at HMP Frankland.
6. The clinical reviewer concluded that the clinical care Mr Bangs received at HMP
Frankland was partially equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive
in the community. She found that Mr Bangs had good care for his long-term
conditions. However, Mr Bangs was not urgently referred for a chest X-ray in
January 2024 as he should have been. Staff should also have discussed him at the
multi professional complex case conference (MPCCC) to ensure his healthcare
needs were being met.
7. We make the following recommendations related to the clinical care Mr Bangs
received:
The Head of Healthcare should ensure that when patients are presenting with
red flag symptoms an urgent chest X-ray is ordered under the 2-week
guidelines and in accordance with NICE Guidelines NG12 suspected cancer:
recognition and referral.
The Head of Healthcare should ensure that the appropriate persons are being
discussed in the multi professional complex case conference (MPCCC) so
that the wider healthcare team have full oversight of their needs.
8. The clinical reviewer also made recommendations not related to Mr Bangs’ death that
the Head of Healthcare will want to address.
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman 1
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9. The initial report was shared with HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).
HMPPS did not find any factual inaccuracies.
10. At the inquest held on 19 November 2024, the Coroner concluded that Mr Bangs
died of natural causes.
Adrian Usher August 2024
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
2 Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
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Third Floor, 10 South Colonnade Email: mail@ppo.gov.uk T l 020 7633 4100
Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Web: www.ppo.gov.uk
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