‘Fight every step to get the truth’
Gross failings at mental health unit contributed to mum’s death
Gross failings at a mental health unit contributed to the death of a patient who died after jumping in front of a train, an inquest has found.
Troubled mother Natalie Gray discharged herself from Priority House, where she had been receiving care on a voluntary basis, and made her way to Barming railway station where she took her life in April last year.
The 24-year-old, from Folkestone, had a long history of difficulties and was under the care of mental health services after attempting suicide several times.
On Tuesday, after hearing three weeks of evidence, a jury of four men and seven women concluded negligence by Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust had played a part in Miss Gray’s tragic death.
They found there had been insufficient risk assessments carried out regarding her mental state, and that staff handovers between shifts had been inadequate.
The night before Miss Gray’s death she had been suicidal, and a doctor decided she should be reassessed if she became agitated and tried to leave the unit, although the inquest heard this was not passed on to all staff.
At around 3pm on the day of her death, Miss Gray was allowed out of the Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, unit by an occupational therapist. Half an hour later, the deputy ward manager called the police, but there were no patrols available to begin a search.
Miss Gray died just a mile away, around three hours later.
Speaking after the hearing, Miss Gray’s aunt Roselin Sayer said: “Losing Natalie has left an enormous hole in our family. It has been a fight every step of the way to get to the truth of what happened to her.
“We hope that lessons will be learned from Natalie’s case and that Priority House will take steps to prevent future deaths by conducting proper risk assessments and improving procedures for allowing patients off the wards to ensure that no other family has to go through this.”
Following the inquest at Archbishop’s Palace, Maidstone, senior coroner for mid Kent and Medway, Patricia Harding, is set to publish a report detailing action to prevent future deaths.
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