Health board fined after three suicide deaths

Family in call for changes to mental health services in Tayside after women take their own lives on the Moredun ward

Tayside Health Board has been fined £120,000 over criminal failings that led to the deaths of three patients at a Perth hospital.

Jodie McNab, 22, Rebecca Sangster, 31, and 60-year-old Jacqueline Proctor took their own lives at Murray Royal Hospital’s Moredun ward.

Perth Sheriff Court heard all three died by hanging, after health chiefs failed to respond to a previous warning about ligature points on furniture and fittings.

The board has admitted criminal responsibility for the tragedies, which happened between 2012 and 2015 at the unit, which was supposedly designed for patients with acute mental health conditions.

Perth Sheriff Court heard that “robust” and “radical” improvements had since been made at the ward.

But Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “It should not have taken three deaths for that very significant review to be undertaken.”

He added: “If some thought and consideration had been applied here, these tragic events would not have occurred.”

After the day-long hearing, Ann Sangster, Rebecca’s mother, said: “The families here today have lost loved ones, whose deaths were not tragic single errors – they were avoidable incidents.”

Mrs Sangster, 63, from Abernethy, who has launched legal action for compensation, said: “It appears a disengagement from leadership and managerial responsibilities, a tolerance of poor standards, placed vulnerable people at risk and impinged on their wellbeing, safety and human rights.”

She said the case “emphasises the shortfalls of what was a substandard service on many fronts”.

“The guilty plea to their numerous failings on in-patient care at Murray Royal Hospital gives rise to hope, that they will be motivated to providing a safe and holistic mental health service in Tayside to vulnerable people in their time of need,” she added.

“We can only trust the new management take the professional and meaningful approach required before others are harmed. Time will tell.” Jodie’s mother Tracy Swan said: “Jodie was in a place of supposed safety when the events leading to her death occurred.

“Having learned of the health and safety failings within the Moredun Ward, we feel that she would have been safer at home with her family.”

She added: “It has taken almost seven years for Tayside Health Board to accept responsibility for the failings that led to Jodie’s death, and this has caused an enormous amount of stress and strain on us as a family.”

Ms Swan said it was unfair that grieving families were subjected to such a lengthy process, “particularly when it was apparent to us from the outset that failings within the hospital led to Jodie’s death”.

She added: “We have been particularly devastated to learn that not only could Jodie’s death have been prevented, but that recommendations had previously been made following a similar death which meant all beds within Moredun ward should have been replaced long before Jodie’s death.”

The family has called for changes to mental health services in Tayside. “We would dearly like to think things have changed since Jodie’s death to prevent this happening to any other family,” said Ms Swan.

“Sadly we don’t have the confidence that that is the case.”

Ms Swan described her daughter as “kind and thoughtful”, adding: “She worked hard to raise awareness of mental health issues and always put herself before others.

“She was full of mischief and had a good sense of humour. Words cannot express how much we miss her and will continue to miss her.”

Chief executive of NHS Tayside Grant Archibald responded: “On behalf of NHS Tayside Board, I wish to say that we are deeply sorry for the deaths of Jodie McNab, Rebecca Sangster and Jacqueline Proctor and for the pain and grief this has caused their families.

“The tragic events at Murray Royal Hospital were as a result of a number of failures which the board has admitted. It is very clear that these incidents should not have happened.”