Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
It’s been previously suggested that I put all the stuff about violence/abuse from mental health staff/services in one thread, so here it is.
Violence and abuse by mental health staff and services
- Thread starter Shechemite
- Start date
Shechemite
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Shechemite
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Cocaine-fuelled mental health nurse launched terrifying sex attacks on lone women (Liverpool Echo - 10/12/2018)
Colin Gorst, 42, is serving a two-year jail sentence and has now been permanently struck off from practising nursing after pinning down his victims and trying to pull at their clothes.
Fortunately both women managed to escape before Gorst, of Bridge Road in Crosby, was able to commit a more serious sexual offence, but were left traumatised by their experiences.
Last week the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which maintains the register to practise nursing, described how the seriousness of his crimes and a "lack of remorse" meant that Gorst must be struck off.
Cocaine-fuelled male nurse launched terrifying sex attacks on lone women
Colin Gorst, 42, is serving a two-year jail sentence and has now been permanently struck off from practising nursing after pinning down his victims and trying to pull at their clothes.
Fortunately both women managed to escape before Gorst, of Bridge Road in Crosby, was able to commit a more serious sexual offence, but were left traumatised by their experiences.
Last week the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which maintains the register to practise nursing, described how the seriousness of his crimes and a "lack of remorse" meant that Gorst must be struck off.
Cocaine-fuelled male nurse launched terrifying sex attacks on lone women
ice-is-forming
I was born naked, shameless & fucking outrageous..
There so much that's recently been uncovered here in Australia that theres an inquiry of the highest level going on 
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
From the US - latest in the fight for justice for Nikki and Wendy
What could have saved mentally ill women who drowned? SC could require new training
What could have saved mentally ill women who drowned? SC could require new training
“A state Senate subcommittee Monday held a second hearing into the drowning deaths of two mental health patients during Hurricane Florence”o
SC lawmakers consider changes to moving mental patients
SC lawmakers consider changes to moving mental patients
'Be treated with dignity:' A new bill could change how mental health patients are moved
Columbia, SC (WPDE) — The South Carolina Senate's Mental Health Initiative Subcommittee met Monday to work on a bill that will change how mental health patients are transported.
What could have saved mentally ill women who drowned? SC could require new training
What could have saved mentally ill women who drowned? SC could require new training
“A state Senate subcommittee Monday held a second hearing into the drowning deaths of two mental health patients during Hurricane Florence”o
SC lawmakers consider changes to moving mental patients
SC lawmakers consider changes to moving mental patients
'Be treated with dignity:' A new bill could change how mental health patients are moved
Columbia, SC (WPDE) — The South Carolina Senate's Mental Health Initiative Subcommittee met Monday to work on a bill that will change how mental health patients are transported.
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
The rising rates of violence and abuse against mental health patients in the UK was the context for the ‘Independent Review of the Mental Health Act’.
The review was published on the 6th December, and the contents and recommendations reflect the violence endemic in the mental health system.
A summary of various responses to the review is here.
Responses to the Mental Health Act reform | MHT
The review was published on the 6th December, and the contents and recommendations reflect the violence endemic in the mental health system.
A summary of various responses to the review is here.
Responses to the Mental Health Act reform | MHT
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Muckamore Abbey report lists 'catastrophic failings'
A review surrounding the protection of vulnerable adult patients at Muckamore Abbey Hospital has found that many lives were compromised.
The report, seen by the BBC, charts a series of catastrophic failings and found there was a culture of tolerating harm.
Its authors say it is "shattering that no-one intervened to halt the harm and take charge".
The Belfast Trust said its senior staff are meeting with the affected families.
The RQIA - the health services regulator - said the findings were "shocking".
CCTV in the hospital's Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), showed patients being harmed by staff, but no safeguarding referrals were made and no members of staff spoke out.
In fact, most people working there were unaware that the cameras were switched on.
The report's findings are:
Thirteen members of the nursing staff have been suspended and two senior nursing managers are off on long-term sick leave.
The BBC understands that one offered to retire early. Eight people have been referred to the nursing and midwifery council.
In a damning conclusion of how Northern Ireland supports infants and children with learning disabilities, autism and complex medical challenges, the report says services are poorly supported and families do not view the hospital as their future.
It also confirms what many families have repeatedly said - that the hospital is being used for institutionalised/long-term use as opposed to short-term admissions and the treatment for which it was intended.
In fact, a number of patients were in the PICU unnecessarily as there was not a suitable home-care package for them in the community.
The report emphasises that the care model is out of date.
It says that events that did come to light in the CCTV footage were initially denied and it was even claimed that these were implausible.
Some hospital records are missing, including records of staff who had been previously subject to a disciplinary process.
The RQIA also comes in for criticism in the report as it says there is no evidence of an "over-arching view of the hospital".
Recommendations from the RQIA remain outstanding from one inspection to another.
Olive Macleod, RQIA chief executive, said she was "appalled" at the treatment meted out to patients.
"The safeguarding failures at the Belfast Trust's Muckamore Abbey Hospital, as described in this review, are shocking. As a nurse, I am appalled that the most vulnerable in society were subjected to such degrading and inhumane treatment by fellow nurses and health care workers," she said.
Hospital 'had culture of tolerating harm'
A review surrounding the protection of vulnerable adult patients at Muckamore Abbey Hospital has found that many lives were compromised.
The report, seen by the BBC, charts a series of catastrophic failings and found there was a culture of tolerating harm.
Its authors say it is "shattering that no-one intervened to halt the harm and take charge".
The Belfast Trust said its senior staff are meeting with the affected families.
The RQIA - the health services regulator - said the findings were "shocking".
CCTV in the hospital's Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), showed patients being harmed by staff, but no safeguarding referrals were made and no members of staff spoke out.
In fact, most people working there were unaware that the cameras were switched on.
The report's findings are:
- Patient's lives were compromised.
- Safeguarding protocols were not followed by staff;
- CCTV footage showed patients being harmed by staff - and staff did not speak out;
- The use of the seclusion room was not monitored;
- Patients were significantly likely to be harmed by peers;
- The routine practice of involving the PSNI in all safeguarding discussions is "bewildering";
- Leadership is distributed and not being used to benefit hospital patients.
Thirteen members of the nursing staff have been suspended and two senior nursing managers are off on long-term sick leave.
The BBC understands that one offered to retire early. Eight people have been referred to the nursing and midwifery council.
In a damning conclusion of how Northern Ireland supports infants and children with learning disabilities, autism and complex medical challenges, the report says services are poorly supported and families do not view the hospital as their future.
It also confirms what many families have repeatedly said - that the hospital is being used for institutionalised/long-term use as opposed to short-term admissions and the treatment for which it was intended.
In fact, a number of patients were in the PICU unnecessarily as there was not a suitable home-care package for them in the community.
The report emphasises that the care model is out of date.
It says that events that did come to light in the CCTV footage were initially denied and it was even claimed that these were implausible.
Some hospital records are missing, including records of staff who had been previously subject to a disciplinary process.
The RQIA also comes in for criticism in the report as it says there is no evidence of an "over-arching view of the hospital".
Recommendations from the RQIA remain outstanding from one inspection to another.
Olive Macleod, RQIA chief executive, said she was "appalled" at the treatment meted out to patients.
"The safeguarding failures at the Belfast Trust's Muckamore Abbey Hospital, as described in this review, are shocking. As a nurse, I am appalled that the most vulnerable in society were subjected to such degrading and inhumane treatment by fellow nurses and health care workers," she said.
Hospital 'had culture of tolerating harm'
ManchesterBeth
Well-Known Member
nice one, will try and go through as much of this over xmas. i agree, think it's a good idea to keep a depository of this stuff.
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Health service bosses deny 'culture of silence' at Muckamore in abuse scandal
TWO of the Belfast health trust's most senior directors have denied that a 'culture of silence' existed at Muckamore Abbey Hospital - despite horrific abuse of patients that went unreported for months.
Director of nursing Brenda Creaney and Marie Heaney, director of adult social care, also insisted that their positions are tenable after an expert report raised serious concerns about the management of the Co Antrim facility, for which the trust is responsible.
Muckamore, an inpatient hospital which cares for adults with severe learning disabilities, is currently at the centre of the biggest criminal adult safeguarding investigation of its kind in Northern Ireland, with the National Crime Agency assisting the PSNI in the massive probe.
Physical abuse of seriously ill patients by healthcare professionals in a psychiatric intensive care unit at the regional facility was captured on CCTV between March and September last year.
Ward staff, including nurses, healthcare assistants and hospital managers, were unaware the cameras were recording at the time - a fact described as "remarkable" by the author of scathing NHS report into the scandal, which concluded that patients' lives were "compromised".
Concerns were also raised about nepotism, with many of the staff related and said to be fearful of "grassing" on each other, with the report noting that "the primary loyalties of people who are related or in intimate relationships are unlikely to be to the patients".
To date, eight registered nurses and five healthcare support workers have been suspended from the hospital.
In an interview with The Irish News yesterday, two days after details emerged of the damning independent review, both directors accepted that if it were not for the CCTV footage the abuse would never have come to light.
Disturbing details of patients "lying on the floor and being kicked" and of others being kneed in the groin and "dragged by the hair" are outlined in the expert 'Serious Adverse Incident' review alongside failings of hospital managers who dismissed families' suspicions of abuse as "implausible".
"We were astonished, shocked and horrified that a small number of people were conditioned or socialised into normalising this behaviour (of abuse)," Ms Heaney said yesterday.
"A lot of these incidents happened out-of-hours, at weekends and occurred after 5pm. The report clearly shows a culture of a range of factors that can't be easily explained... But I don't accept there was 'a culture of silence'."
In October, The Irish News obtained detailed written notes of a private meeting between the review team and families, in which a male member of the team referred to a "culture of silence" at the hospital - in the context of other problems such as nursing shortages and lack of planned activities for "bored" patients.
He said: "None of that of course helps us to understand the culture of silence that went on in Muckamore but it does help to understand the understand the contributory factors..."
Both Ms Creaney and Ms Heaney were present at the meeting but said they "did not recall" the phrase being used.
The nursing chief added that there had been a "history" of people making abuse allegations of abuse at the hospital which she felt she had dealt with appropriately.
" We had already been managing safeguarding concerns including patient-on-patient abuse and staff-on-patient abuse. There was abuse reported to us last September - and coincidentally there was CCTV which was going through a 'test' phase," Ms Creaney said.
"It showed a small number of staff perpetrating physical acts on patients, there seemed to be a small number of people who witnessed it and did not report it.
"I have to say this have been very challenging for all the families but I am glad we have that CCTV evidence because we can now take appropriate action. Prior to that we didn't have that concrete evidence."
The directors said there had been a complete overhaul of services at the hospital, with highly-skilled agency nurses travelling from England and a whole new range of activities for patients, such as music therapy, art and swimming.
CCTV has now been installed across every ward in the hospital, which is close to Antrim town.
Families affected by the abuse of their loved ones have repeatedly called for a public inquiry and accountability from the "top down" since the allegations were first revealed in The Irish News in the summer.
When asked yesterday if she felt her position was tenable given that the majority of those suspended were her staff and that the crisis had taken place 'on her watch', Ms Creaney said she was "very aware" of her responsibilities in relation to "the safety of patients".
"I don't shy away from my responsibilities," she said.
"I'm also confident I took appropriate action as soon as this was brought to my attention. I also took action to to refer individuals to the regulator (which resulted in nurses being suspended from working for 18 months).
"We act on information we know, we acted immediately when we got the information and certainly we have to act on fact and analysis."
Ms Heaney added that she took "full responsibility" for the changes "that need to happen" but she thought it was a "matter for the police investigation" in relation to holding people to account.
TWO of the Belfast health trust's most senior directors have denied that a 'culture of silence' existed at Muckamore Abbey Hospital - despite horrific abuse of patients that went unreported for months.
Director of nursing Brenda Creaney and Marie Heaney, director of adult social care, also insisted that their positions are tenable after an expert report raised serious concerns about the management of the Co Antrim facility, for which the trust is responsible.
Muckamore, an inpatient hospital which cares for adults with severe learning disabilities, is currently at the centre of the biggest criminal adult safeguarding investigation of its kind in Northern Ireland, with the National Crime Agency assisting the PSNI in the massive probe.
Physical abuse of seriously ill patients by healthcare professionals in a psychiatric intensive care unit at the regional facility was captured on CCTV between March and September last year.
Ward staff, including nurses, healthcare assistants and hospital managers, were unaware the cameras were recording at the time - a fact described as "remarkable" by the author of scathing NHS report into the scandal, which concluded that patients' lives were "compromised".
Concerns were also raised about nepotism, with many of the staff related and said to be fearful of "grassing" on each other, with the report noting that "the primary loyalties of people who are related or in intimate relationships are unlikely to be to the patients".
To date, eight registered nurses and five healthcare support workers have been suspended from the hospital.
In an interview with The Irish News yesterday, two days after details emerged of the damning independent review, both directors accepted that if it were not for the CCTV footage the abuse would never have come to light.
Disturbing details of patients "lying on the floor and being kicked" and of others being kneed in the groin and "dragged by the hair" are outlined in the expert 'Serious Adverse Incident' review alongside failings of hospital managers who dismissed families' suspicions of abuse as "implausible".
"We were astonished, shocked and horrified that a small number of people were conditioned or socialised into normalising this behaviour (of abuse)," Ms Heaney said yesterday.
"A lot of these incidents happened out-of-hours, at weekends and occurred after 5pm. The report clearly shows a culture of a range of factors that can't be easily explained... But I don't accept there was 'a culture of silence'."
In October, The Irish News obtained detailed written notes of a private meeting between the review team and families, in which a male member of the team referred to a "culture of silence" at the hospital - in the context of other problems such as nursing shortages and lack of planned activities for "bored" patients.
He said: "None of that of course helps us to understand the culture of silence that went on in Muckamore but it does help to understand the understand the contributory factors..."
Both Ms Creaney and Ms Heaney were present at the meeting but said they "did not recall" the phrase being used.
The nursing chief added that there had been a "history" of people making abuse allegations of abuse at the hospital which she felt she had dealt with appropriately.
" We had already been managing safeguarding concerns including patient-on-patient abuse and staff-on-patient abuse. There was abuse reported to us last September - and coincidentally there was CCTV which was going through a 'test' phase," Ms Creaney said.
"It showed a small number of staff perpetrating physical acts on patients, there seemed to be a small number of people who witnessed it and did not report it.
"I have to say this have been very challenging for all the families but I am glad we have that CCTV evidence because we can now take appropriate action. Prior to that we didn't have that concrete evidence."
The directors said there had been a complete overhaul of services at the hospital, with highly-skilled agency nurses travelling from England and a whole new range of activities for patients, such as music therapy, art and swimming.
CCTV has now been installed across every ward in the hospital, which is close to Antrim town.
Families affected by the abuse of their loved ones have repeatedly called for a public inquiry and accountability from the "top down" since the allegations were first revealed in The Irish News in the summer.
When asked yesterday if she felt her position was tenable given that the majority of those suspended were her staff and that the crisis had taken place 'on her watch', Ms Creaney said she was "very aware" of her responsibilities in relation to "the safety of patients".
"I don't shy away from my responsibilities," she said.
"I'm also confident I took appropriate action as soon as this was brought to my attention. I also took action to to refer individuals to the regulator (which resulted in nurses being suspended from working for 18 months).
"We act on information we know, we acted immediately when we got the information and certainly we have to act on fact and analysis."
Ms Heaney added that she took "full responsibility" for the changes "that need to happen" but she thought it was a "matter for the police investigation" in relation to holding people to account.
krtek a houby
Merry Xmas!
Thanks for this thread MadeInBedlam
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
THIRD DEATH IN 15 MONTHS AT WHITELEAF CENTRE, AYLESBURY - RUN BY Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Mother's death at NHS mental health unit was third in 15 months, sparking calls for reform
Emma felt like she was being thrown out to the street,’ says her mother Debbie Taylor after inquest jury said discharge procedures may have contributed to death
Mother of five Emma Butler, 33, died in March 2017 from fatal injuries sustained after self-harming on a period of unsupervised leave from the Whiteleaf Centre, run by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
“She felt like she was being thrown out to the street,” Emma’s mother Debbie Taylor told The Independent. “She wanted to leave there when they had made her better and not because they couldn’t deal with her.”
“It was far too rushed trying to discharge her, and certainly too early to be letting her out on unescorted leave.”
At the inquest, Oxford Health said the prospect of discharge was used to make Emma engage with treatment and she would not have been discharged while still unwell, the family’s solicitor’s Leigh Day said.
“But they never gave Emma that information,” Ms Taylor said. “As far as Emma was concerned, she was being discharged no matter what she did.”
Emma also made a call to the unit’s support line 15 minutes before she was found with fatal injuries, but the inquest raised concerns this was never recorded in Emma’s notes and no staff recall receiving it.
Emma also made a call to the unit’s support line 15 minutes before she was found with fatal injuries, but the inquest raised concerns this was never recorded in Emma’s notes and no staff recall receiving it.
Mother's death at NHS mental health unit was third in 15 months, sparking calls for reform
Emma felt like she was being thrown out to the street,’ says her mother Debbie Taylor after inquest jury said discharge procedures may have contributed to death
Mother of five Emma Butler, 33, died in March 2017 from fatal injuries sustained after self-harming on a period of unsupervised leave from the Whiteleaf Centre, run by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
“She felt like she was being thrown out to the street,” Emma’s mother Debbie Taylor told The Independent. “She wanted to leave there when they had made her better and not because they couldn’t deal with her.”
“It was far too rushed trying to discharge her, and certainly too early to be letting her out on unescorted leave.”
At the inquest, Oxford Health said the prospect of discharge was used to make Emma engage with treatment and she would not have been discharged while still unwell, the family’s solicitor’s Leigh Day said.
“But they never gave Emma that information,” Ms Taylor said. “As far as Emma was concerned, she was being discharged no matter what she did.”
Emma also made a call to the unit’s support line 15 minutes before she was found with fatal injuries, but the inquest raised concerns this was never recorded in Emma’s notes and no staff recall receiving it.
Emma also made a call to the unit’s support line 15 minutes before she was found with fatal injuries, but the inquest raised concerns this was never recorded in Emma’s notes and no staff recall receiving it.
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Married psychiatric nurse, 39, who had sex with girl, 15, is jailed | Daily Mail Online
A mental health crisis worker who groomed a vulnerable 15-year-old girl he was supposed to care for before getting her pregnant and arranging an abortion has been jailed.
Married Givemore Gezi, of Chudleigh, Devon, manipulated the girl and had a sexual relationship with her before getting her pregnant, Exeter Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Heather Hope said: 'He used his position to groom her.'
Gezi, 40, said she was 'special to him' and they were boyfriend and girlfriend even though she was just 15 years old.
Miss Hope said that he had sex with the girl at will when she was under his care in Torbay, Devon.
The court heard he started taking her on car trips to beauty spots and isolated woodland around Devon where his abuse started with kissing and cuddling and moved on to groping and oral sex.
Gezi told her he was 28 and in love with her and deceived her into believing they were in a normal boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. In reality, he was 39, and married with two children.
He started having full sex with the girl when she turned 16 and helped her arrange an abortion after making her pregnant. He carried on seeing her even after the police started investigating.
Miss Hope said: 'He continued the relationship with her even after the authorities became aware of what he was doing.'
She said Gezi 'also emotionally controlled her' and said the victim suffers from depressive episodes, PTSD and self harming and had difficulty trusting people, particularly those in authority.
A mental health crisis worker who groomed a vulnerable 15-year-old girl he was supposed to care for before getting her pregnant and arranging an abortion has been jailed.
Married Givemore Gezi, of Chudleigh, Devon, manipulated the girl and had a sexual relationship with her before getting her pregnant, Exeter Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Heather Hope said: 'He used his position to groom her.'
Gezi, 40, said she was 'special to him' and they were boyfriend and girlfriend even though she was just 15 years old.
Miss Hope said that he had sex with the girl at will when she was under his care in Torbay, Devon.
The court heard he started taking her on car trips to beauty spots and isolated woodland around Devon where his abuse started with kissing and cuddling and moved on to groping and oral sex.
Gezi told her he was 28 and in love with her and deceived her into believing they were in a normal boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. In reality, he was 39, and married with two children.
He started having full sex with the girl when she turned 16 and helped her arrange an abortion after making her pregnant. He carried on seeing her even after the police started investigating.
Miss Hope said: 'He continued the relationship with her even after the authorities became aware of what he was doing.'
She said Gezi 'also emotionally controlled her' and said the victim suffers from depressive episodes, PTSD and self harming and had difficulty trusting people, particularly those in authority.
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Break a patient’s nose, try to cover it up.
Enjoy jail you prick.
Psychiatric nurse facing jail for punch that fractured patient's nose - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
Enjoy jail you prick.
Psychiatric nurse facing jail for punch that fractured patient's nose - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Staff suspended at Middlesbrough mental health hospital
8 January 2019
BBC NEWS
Seventeen members of staff have been suspended at a hospital that treats young people with mental health needs.
It follows reports some nurses and healthcare assistants used non-approved techniques to move patients at Middlesbrough's West Lane hospital.
Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust said it took the allegations extremely seriously.
It has launched an investigation, which is also being overseen by the Care Quality Commission and NHS England.
Concerns were raised in November about West Lane Hospital's Westwood Centre, which offers low secure adolescent inpatient accommodation.
They centred around claims staff used techniques for moving patients which were "not taught and not in line with trust policy".
'Show respect'
Additional staff have been been temporarily assigned to the Westwood Centre while the investigation was ongoing, the trust said.
Elizabeth Moody, the trust's director of nursing and deputy chief executive, said: "We expect staff to show respect for the dignity and wellbeing of patients, and we take allegations that could suggest otherwise extremely seriously.
"Our patients are our priority and we responded quickly to these concerns."
She added she was not able to give further details while the investigation was ongoing.
Staff suspended at mental health hospital
8 January 2019
BBC NEWS
Seventeen members of staff have been suspended at a hospital that treats young people with mental health needs.
It follows reports some nurses and healthcare assistants used non-approved techniques to move patients at Middlesbrough's West Lane hospital.
Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust said it took the allegations extremely seriously.
It has launched an investigation, which is also being overseen by the Care Quality Commission and NHS England.
Concerns were raised in November about West Lane Hospital's Westwood Centre, which offers low secure adolescent inpatient accommodation.
They centred around claims staff used techniques for moving patients which were "not taught and not in line with trust policy".
'Show respect'
Additional staff have been been temporarily assigned to the Westwood Centre while the investigation was ongoing, the trust said.
Elizabeth Moody, the trust's director of nursing and deputy chief executive, said: "We expect staff to show respect for the dignity and wellbeing of patients, and we take allegations that could suggest otherwise extremely seriously.
"Our patients are our priority and we responded quickly to these concerns."
She added she was not able to give further details while the investigation was ongoing.
Staff suspended at mental health hospital
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Teenager killed herself after changes at mental care home, inquest told
Robert Booth, Tue 22 Jan 2019
A teenager took her own life at a mental health care home after the charity in charge laid off external therapists, employed unqualified staff and turned it into a “boot camp”, an inquest has heard.
In May 2016 Sophie Bennett, 19, from Tooting, south-west London, killed herself in a bathroom at Lancaster Lodge in Richmond, west London, a facility that helps people with mental illnesses transition back to normal life, an inquest jury at West London coroner’s court was told.
The home was run by Richmond Psychosocial Foundation International, a charity set up by Elly Jansen, a leading figure in mental health care.
In the first months of 2016, an abrupt change in management led to a deterioration in care, the inquest heard. After an inspection by the Care Quality Commission discovered problems, including about the administration of drugs, some of the 12 residents were told they would need to move out.
Sophie was so upset by the prospect of leaving that she was placed on a regular five-minute inspection to ensure she did not harm herself. She was found unconscious in a bathroom minutes after one such check and died two days later in hospital. Another resident also attempted suicide.
Before the changes, things looked like they were working out well for Sophie, her mother, Nickie Bennett, told the first day of the inquest, but later she became “very distressed”.
Sophie’s father, Ben Bennett, said he felt no one at Wandsworth council’s social services department gave any consideration to her safety.
The teenager, a former county level swimmer described by her family as “a bright, loving and caring person who loved sport and art and was talented at music”, had been diagnosed with autism, bipolar and social anxiety disorders. She had twice previously taken overdoses and lived in an institution in Northamptonshire before moving to Lancaster Lodge.
In late 2015 and early 2016, she had taken part in a Prince’s Trust programme and worked in a charity shop, and the family hoped she might attend university. That unravelled when the care home manager, Vincent Hill, who she liked, was removed and “marched out of the building in front of the residents”, Nickie Bennett said. Sophie’s external therapist was also removed and her key worker dismissed.
“They didn’t respond very well to [the new manager],” said Sophie’s mother. “They felt he didn’t have the necessary qualifications. He wanted to run the place in a different way. Sophie described it that he wanted to run it as a boot camp.”
Clarissa Jeffrey, a fellow resident and friend of Sophie’s said in a statement: “The changes felt as though they were fuelled by wanting to make money or save money. It eventually felt like we the residents were running the place.”
At one point some of them had to restrain a 17-year-old because “noone else would and she would have hurt herself,” Jeffrey said.
Richard Malado, a support worker interviewed by Jansen for a job after the original staff had left, said he had no qualification or experience in mental health work and said the post was “a baptism of fire”. In a statement he said he was aware of “safeguarding concerns” and it was “a fragile environment”.
The CQC had carried out an inspection in March 2016 prompted by concerns about the handling of medicines, and by 7 April Sophie was told by her social worker that she would have to move, which left her “very distressed” and “very unstable”, the inquest heard.
“She was absolutely desperate for us to say she could come home,” said her mother, who told the coroner, John Taylor, it was not possibile. “We would have needed absolutely full-time care.”
On 2 May 2016, Sophie was found dead.
Taylor told the jury that they would need to consider “did the changes [at Lancaster Lodge] cause or contribute to her death”.
“I don’t believe she wanted to die,” her mother said. “She just wanted some help.”
The inquest continues
. Teenager killed herself after changes at mental care home, inquest told
Robert Booth, Tue 22 Jan 2019
A teenager took her own life at a mental health care home after the charity in charge laid off external therapists, employed unqualified staff and turned it into a “boot camp”, an inquest has heard.
In May 2016 Sophie Bennett, 19, from Tooting, south-west London, killed herself in a bathroom at Lancaster Lodge in Richmond, west London, a facility that helps people with mental illnesses transition back to normal life, an inquest jury at West London coroner’s court was told.
The home was run by Richmond Psychosocial Foundation International, a charity set up by Elly Jansen, a leading figure in mental health care.
In the first months of 2016, an abrupt change in management led to a deterioration in care, the inquest heard. After an inspection by the Care Quality Commission discovered problems, including about the administration of drugs, some of the 12 residents were told they would need to move out.
Sophie was so upset by the prospect of leaving that she was placed on a regular five-minute inspection to ensure she did not harm herself. She was found unconscious in a bathroom minutes after one such check and died two days later in hospital. Another resident also attempted suicide.
Before the changes, things looked like they were working out well for Sophie, her mother, Nickie Bennett, told the first day of the inquest, but later she became “very distressed”.
Sophie’s father, Ben Bennett, said he felt no one at Wandsworth council’s social services department gave any consideration to her safety.
The teenager, a former county level swimmer described by her family as “a bright, loving and caring person who loved sport and art and was talented at music”, had been diagnosed with autism, bipolar and social anxiety disorders. She had twice previously taken overdoses and lived in an institution in Northamptonshire before moving to Lancaster Lodge.
In late 2015 and early 2016, she had taken part in a Prince’s Trust programme and worked in a charity shop, and the family hoped she might attend university. That unravelled when the care home manager, Vincent Hill, who she liked, was removed and “marched out of the building in front of the residents”, Nickie Bennett said. Sophie’s external therapist was also removed and her key worker dismissed.
“They didn’t respond very well to [the new manager],” said Sophie’s mother. “They felt he didn’t have the necessary qualifications. He wanted to run the place in a different way. Sophie described it that he wanted to run it as a boot camp.”
Clarissa Jeffrey, a fellow resident and friend of Sophie’s said in a statement: “The changes felt as though they were fuelled by wanting to make money or save money. It eventually felt like we the residents were running the place.”
At one point some of them had to restrain a 17-year-old because “noone else would and she would have hurt herself,” Jeffrey said.
Richard Malado, a support worker interviewed by Jansen for a job after the original staff had left, said he had no qualification or experience in mental health work and said the post was “a baptism of fire”. In a statement he said he was aware of “safeguarding concerns” and it was “a fragile environment”.
The CQC had carried out an inspection in March 2016 prompted by concerns about the handling of medicines, and by 7 April Sophie was told by her social worker that she would have to move, which left her “very distressed” and “very unstable”, the inquest heard.
“She was absolutely desperate for us to say she could come home,” said her mother, who told the coroner, John Taylor, it was not possibile. “We would have needed absolutely full-time care.”
On 2 May 2016, Sophie was found dead.
Taylor told the jury that they would need to consider “did the changes [at Lancaster Lodge] cause or contribute to her death”.
“I don’t believe she wanted to die,” her mother said. “She just wanted some help.”
The inquest continues
. Teenager killed herself after changes at mental care home, inquest told
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Hospital patient 'felt like caged animal'
A teenager has said she felt like a "caged animal" during a four-year spell at a mental health hospital which is under investigation.
Faith Wilthew, 18, said she self-harmed and attempted suicide at West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough.
She said she was "told it was my own choice if I wanted to self-harm".
Twenty staff members have been suspended at the hospital over claims they used "non-approved" techniques to move patients. The investigation is being overseen by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Concerns were raised in November about care at West Lane, amid allegations staff used techniques for moving patients which were "not taught and not in line with trust policy".
Miss Wilthew said: "Most of the time I felt like I was in prison. I went in there at 14 with not a scar on my body and I came out at 18 full of scars.”
A teenager has said she felt like a "caged animal" during a four-year spell at a mental health hospital which is under investigation.
Faith Wilthew, 18, said she self-harmed and attempted suicide at West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough.
She said she was "told it was my own choice if I wanted to self-harm".
Twenty staff members have been suspended at the hospital over claims they used "non-approved" techniques to move patients. The investigation is being overseen by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Concerns were raised in November about care at West Lane, amid allegations staff used techniques for moving patients which were "not taught and not in line with trust policy".
Miss Wilthew said: "Most of the time I felt like I was in prison. I went in there at 14 with not a scar on my body and I came out at 18 full of scars.”
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