Investigation after patient ordered poison to inpatient unit

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is examining the circumstances surrounding the death of a patient at a psychiatric hospital in Birmingham.

Poppie Rogers, 22, died in June last year after taking a poisonous substance she ordered online while on the Larimar ward, an acute inpatient ward run by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust.

The CQC told HSJ it is looking into the case and gathering information, including from the provider, so that it can determine whether any further action is required.

The incident is referred to in BSMHFT board papers from earlier this year, which cited a “risk that patients may bring in or have delivered to wards harmful products leading to a risk of serious harm to themselves, other patients, or staff”.

The papers said the risk was identified “following a serious incident where a patient was able to have a poisonous substance delivered in a parcel and ingest it, leading to their death. When the parcel was delivered to the ward, it was not checked by staff.”

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Source: HSJ, 20 October 2026