Teen treated ‘like dirt’ before hospital death
Emily Moore died shortly after her 18th birthday [Family Handout]
This article contains details about suicide and self-harm
A teenage girl who died while being treated at a mental health ward complained that staff treated her “like dirt”, an inquest heard.
Emily Moore, of Shildon Found dead at Lanchester Road Hospital in Durham Days after his 18th birthday in February 2020.
He was previously a detained patient at West Lane Hospital in MIddlesbrough, which, like Lanchester Road, is run by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV).
One of Emily’s clinicians said the inquest’s criticism of the Teesside hospital was “fair” and that Emily had not received the treatment she needed due to staff shortages.
The inquest, held before a jury in Crook, heard Emily began self-harming and attempting suicide in 2017 when she was 15 years old.
The inquest heard he was admitted against his will to the 14-bed Newberry Center in West Lane in March 2019 because community medication and therapy were ineffective and the high risk he posed to himself.
Emily was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), her consultant psychiatrist Melanie Willetts told jurors.
The Care Quality Commission ordered the hospital to close in August 2019 and Emily was moved to the safer Ferndene in Prudhoe, run by Cumbria, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
Emily Moore was a patient at Lanchester Road Hospital on the outskirts of Durham [Google]
Following his move, he wrote a letter complaining about what he described as “inadequate staffing” treatment in the Newberry ward.
Emily said that instead of “showing compassion” after the self-harm incident, staff “swore at” her and told her “don’t do it again, it’s a joke now.”
He claimed he was “constantly told to ‘pack it up'” and “talked to like dirt”, with staff telling him he was “just looking for attention” and “clearly liked being that way”.
Emily said that the staff would give her back the items she tried to harm herself with, and that most of the time when she hurt herself, they would not intervene and would just wait for her to tire herself out.
The young man said his “good friend” died in the ward when he should have been kept under surveillance, while Emily was not checked for two hours when she should have been observed six times an hour.
‘Compassion fatigue’
Willetts was asked if Emily’s story was true.
The doctor, who attended the hearing via video link from Australia, said he was “not surprised” by Emily’s comments but said they may not be “100%” true.
He said staff were “well-intentioned” and did “compassionate work” but there was also “compassion fatigue” and “staffing issues.”
“I suspect the reality is somewhere in between,” Willetts said.
“There’s an element that could be true and an element that could be related to that [Emily’s] the disease and its perception of events.”
Subsequent investigations revealed numerous failings at the hospital and in Emily’s care, and Willetts told the inquiry that criticism was “fair”.
He said there had been a “definite decline” between mid-2018 and its closure in 2019, with the following issues:
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Failure to replace an “excellent” and “absolutely vital” psychologist results in “extremely strained” psychology care and full treatment unavailable for Emily
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Shift in admissions means more ‘distressed’ and complex young people need to be managed
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A “large group” of staff on another ward were suspended in November 2018 over allegations of inappropriate restraints, which created anxiety and low morale among remaining workers due to issues not adequately explained by managers
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Don’t trust bank staff who are “thrown in the deep end”
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‘Misunderstanding’ and ‘loss of common sense’ about risk management as young people are given back items they tried to harm themselves with
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Staff and young patients ‘traumatised’ by experiences in hospital
Willetts said the various problems that came with working at the hospital were “like trying to build a house on sand while putting out a fire” and that the facility “never recovered” from its problems.
She said that her own experience in hospital was a “struggle” and that it “affected her”, but that she “didn’t suffer from EUPD and didn’t struggle with the things Emily was going through”.
“I will never work in an inpatient ward again,” Willetts said.
The inquest previously heard Emily was transferred from Ferndene to Lanchester Road, an adult hospital, two days after she turned 18.
He died less than a week later.
The investigation continues.
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