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A recent inquest revealed troubling details about the care received by Emily Moore, a teenager from Shildon, who passed away while under the supervision of a mental health service. Emily, who was found unconscious at Durham’s Lanchester Road Hospital shortly after her 18th birthday in February 2020, died two days later. Prior to this, she had been detained as a patient at West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough, both institutions managed by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV).
The hearing, which took place before a jury in Crook, examined Emily’s mental health journey, explaining that she began self-harming and attempting suicide in 2017 when she was only 15 years old. Despite efforts involving medication and therapy outside of hospital settings, her condition did not improve. Due to the high risk she presented, Emily was admitted against her will to the Newberry Centre, a 14-bed unit at West Lane, in March 2019. During this period, Emily was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), as stated by her consultant psychiatrist, Melanie Willetts. After two patient deaths at West Lane, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) mandated the hospital’s closure in August 2019, and Emily was transferred to the more secure Ferndene unit in Prudhoe, operated by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
During the inquest, Dr. Willetts was asked to assess Emily’s claim that some staff had treated her “like dirt.” Speaking via videolink from Australia, Willetts commented that while Emily’s perspective was not entirely surprising, it might not be completely accurate. “I suspect the truth is somewhere in between,” she said, noting that staff were well-intentioned and compassionate but faced “compassion fatigue” alongside significant staffing shortages. Willetts acknowledged that part of Emily’s experience reflected her perception shaped by illness, but issues with care quality did exist.
Further investigation identified numerous shortcomings at West Lane Hospital during Emily’s care. Willetts described the criticism as justified, pointing to a marked decline in the unit from mid-2018 until its closure in 2019. Contributing factors included the loss of a vital psychologist position crucial to Emily’s treatment, an increase in admissions of highly distressed and complex young patients, and staff suspension controversies that lowered morale. There was also heavy reliance on temporary staff who were ill-prepared for the demands, poor risk management practices such as returning potentially harmful items to patients, and widespread trauma among both patients and staff. Willetts vividly summarized the hospital’s environment as “like trying to build a house on sand while putting a fire out,” explaining that it never recovered from these multiple problems. She personally found her experience working there very challenging and stated, “I would not work on an inpatient ward ever again.”
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