Teacher’s tragic death prompts call to give more menopause support

A CORONER has called for more NHS support to be given to women undergoing the menopause after a Somerset teacher took her own life.

- PHOEBE HOBBS

Jacqueline Anne Potter (known as “Anne”), 54, died after driving head first into an HGV on the A303 in December 2022 after spending time in a mental health ward in Yeovil.

‘An inquest into her death heard that she was seen driving erratically by multiple other road users before she drove her car into an HGV tanker travelling on the westbound carriageway. There was nothing the tanker driver could have done to avoid the collision.

The day before her death, Anne had been granted overnight leave from hospital. The coroner, who published her findings last month, raised concerns that her family was not given “appropriate information to assist them in keeping Anne safe for an overnight stay.”

In a prevention of future deaths report, senior coroner Samantha Marsh said she was concerned about the “lack of importance” given to menopausal care available on the NHS.

She said: “Women who are not fortunate enough to be able to access private clinics and facilities may not be able to access the services and expertise they need at a very crucial transitional phase in their lives. Menopause is not a lifestyle choice, it is an unavoidable part of a woman’s natural biological cycle”

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust had previously said they have listened to the coroner's comments, and are now working to develop a clearer single document that includes risks and a safety plan.

‘The inquest heard that Mrs Potter, of Kingsbury Episcopi, and who had been a teacher at Bishop Fox's School, had been suffering from “underlying anxiety” since 2017. In October 2022, she was “found wandering in traffic and absconding from her home’, after which she “agreed to a voluntary” admission to the Rowan Ward in Yeovil (a psychiatric inpatient hospital).