MUM HAD BEEN FOUND ON A BRIDGE THE DAY BEFORE, IN QUEST TOLD
A MOTHER-of-three who died after falling from a fourth floor hospital landing had been found at a bridge by a concerned member of the public the day before, an inquest heard yesterday.
Anita Rooney (50), a respected businesswoman from Dungannon, died on May 18, 2016 in Craigavon Area Hospital after being admitted as an in-patient at an acute medical unit (AMU).
At the opening of a three-day inquest into Mrs Rooney’s death held in Armagh Courthouse, coroner Joe McCrisken heard that Mrs Rooney had a history of mental health problems.
The inquest was attended by her grown-up children Thomas, Natalie and Chloe, and husband Michael.
On the day before her death Mrs Rooney, who had been seeing a consultant psychiatrist on an out-patient basis, had “deliberately misused” alcohol, a prescription drug and non-prescription drugs, it was said.
She consumed them, the inquest was told, on May 17 after arriving at a bridge over the Blackwater River, and was subsequently taken to the hospital by ambulance after a passer-by alerted the emergency services.
After her admission to the emergency department in Craigavon later that day, a triage nurse had deemed Mrs Rooney, who had worked in the recruitment sector, to be at “high risk of further self-harm”, the inquest heard.
Mrs Rooney was admitted directly to the acute medical unit and no formal risk assessment was carried out, the coroner was told.
Dr Lekha Thankamma, who examined Mrs Rooney in the AMU, explained that while she was made aware of Mrs Rooney’s health problems, including the circumstances of her admission, it was decided a psychiatric examination could not take place until the following day, which had been arranged.
She explained that this was due to the medical risks associated with what Mrs Rooney had
taken. “Her (physical) medical needs needed to be addressed,” she said.
“She was not well enough to be assessed (by a psychiatrist).”
The doctor added that while Mrs Rooney had asked if she could go home, she was not “agitated” and had “expressed willingness” to remain in the hospital.
She stressed that if Mrs Rooney had displayed behaviour to the contrary, a mental health team on call would have been alerted.
Members of Mrs Rooney’s family listened intently during the inquest hearing, and a woman dabbed away tears with a tissue as the inquest earlier heard
details from two doctors who came to Mrs Rooney’s aid when she was discovered conscious at the bottom of the stairwell.
Mrs Rooney was found on the second floor at around 11am on the day she died.
Nurse Naomi Magee, who had started her shift earlier that morning, said she had spotted Mrs Rooney missing from her bed around 20 minutes prior to the patient being found at the stairwell.
The nurse raised the alarm in “accordance with hospital policy”.
She also said that she had earlier declined Mrs Rooney’s request to go outside to have a “smoke and some fresh air”.
The nurse told the inquest that Mrs Rooney was “agreeable” to what she said.
“She was extremely compliant with staff. She walked back to her bed, was calm and sat back down again,” added Ms Magee.
When she was asked by a legal representative for the family if she was aware that Mrs Rooney had gone missing from the unit earlier that same morning, and had to be brought back by a staff member, the nurse said she had not known.
She added that it wasn’t always the case that this information would be shared between colleagues, unless someone had been deemed at serious risk of fleeing the hospital.
Reflecting on what he heard, the coroner said he had to consider guidelines established by the National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (Nice), a non-executive public body of the Department of Health.
Mr McCrisken told the hearing that it advises that the psychiatric treatment of an individual with self-harm should “not be delayed unless life-saving treatment is required”.
Pointing to Nice guidelines that also recommend an individual suffering from self-harm should be closely monitored while under medical care, the coroner said the “12-hour period” between Mrs Rooney’s attempt to take her own life and her time in hospital may point to recommendations being made in his ruling.
The inquest continues today.