Ceara Thacker inquest concludes

The inquest into the death of University of Liverpool student, Ceara Thacker concluded this afternoon (Friday September 20).

Gavin Brown, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at the University of Liverpool, said: “Our thoughts are with Ceara’s family and friends at this difficult time. Ceara was an academically talented, popular student and we are deeply saddened by her death.

“As a university, we are committed to supporting our students with their mental health and wellbeing. We have conducted a thorough review of the support Ceara was offered and, as a result of this and our ongoing review of how these services work, we have instigated a number of improvements to mental health support services. This includes an additional £0.5m investment in staffing and the introduction of rapid access appointments with an advisor.

“Following Ceara’s death, we have also updated guidance to ensure that students who are experiencing substantial distress as a result of mental health difficulties are asked whether they would like to inform family members. We know that students’ family circumstances can differ and where students choose not to inform family, we will explore reasons for this and work with individuals to identify alternative support networks.”