A woman who took her own life while on a mental health ward had been threatened and bullied by staff, her family told a public inquiry.<\/p>\n
Iris Scott, 73, was a patient at the Crystal Centre in Chelmsford, run by the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) mental health services provider, when she died there in her bathroom on 1 March 2014.<\/p>\n
Her children gave evidence to the Lampard Inquiry, which is examining more than 2,000 deaths at NHS-run inpatient units in Essex between 2000 and 2023.<\/p>\n
They told the inquiry they had \u00ab\u00a0grave safety concerns\u00a0\u00bb about her treatment. EPUT said it would \u00ab\u00a0build on the improvements that have already been made over the last 24 years\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
On one occasion their mother told them a staff member threatened to keep the lights on to prevent her sleeping if she did not \u00ab\u00a0stop complaining\u00a0\u00bb and another deliberately blocked her path in corridors.<\/p>\n
Mrs Scott initially agreed to a three-week \u00ab\u00a0quick fix\u00a0\u00bb inpatient stay in August 2013 after suffering from \u00ab\u00a0unmanageable anxiety\u00a0\u00bb, her children said.<\/p>\n
However, her condition worsened during six months on the ward and her family told the inquiry of what they considered to be \u00ab\u00a0failings\u00a0\u00bb regarding her care plan, treatment by staff, the ward and risk management, which they believed contributed to her death.<\/p>\n
Her son, Craig Scott, said there had been \u00ab\u00a0zero accountability\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Her daughter Dawn Johnson said when she raised concerns that her mum had voiced wanting to end her life in November 2013, the ward manager had been dismissive.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0She just said I was being a paranoid daughter and nothing was going to happen on that ward,\u00a0\u00bb Ms Johnson told the inquiry, being held at Arundel House in London.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0She went so far as to say if you didn’t calm down you’d end up on the ward as well,\u00a0\u00bb added Rachel Troup, counsel to the inquiry.<\/p>\n
Due to ongoing issues, Ms Johnson and her mother began keeping diaries of incidents and interactions with staff, which she believed showed her mother’s fear.<\/p>\n
On 14 January 2014, Mrs Scott tried to take her own life, resulting in \u00ab\u00a0significant\u00a0\u00bb bruising around her face, her children said.<\/p>\n
Her family were not informed and were told she had a fall when they questioned staff about her injuries.<\/p>\n
Ms Johnson said her mother confided she had been trying to take her own life but this was rejected by staff who said Mrs Scott was \u00ab\u00a0attention seeking\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
They insisted she had a fall, but said they were increasing observations, the inquiry heard.<\/p>\n
Two days later, Ms Johnson’s children found her setting up a ligature in her room in the same way she had reported.<\/p>\n
Despite being placed on a higher level of observation and a search of her room, her daughter found items for a ligature in her wardrobe, which she said prompted more concerns from the family about the competency of staff.<\/p>\n
In response to the attempt to take her life, Mrs Scott reported that the ward manager told her she had \u00ab\u00a0overstepped boundaries\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0gone too far\u00a0\u00bb, according to her family.<\/p>\n
Ms Johnson said her mum had been \u00ab\u00a0blackmailed\u00a0\u00bb by staff who threatened to \u00ab\u00a0reveal something about her\u00a0\u00bb if she did not change her story about the events on 14 January.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Mum said she felt pressure to change her story,\u00a0\u00bb Ms Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0She was frightened.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Mrs Scott’s observation level was reduced in late February, and she died on 1 March after using a ligature in her bathroom at the unit.<\/p>\n
Asked what she felt should have been done differently regarding her mother’s care, Ms Johnson replied \u00ab\u00a0everything\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Mrs Scott’s family added they hoped any recommendations for change were checked thoroughly to ensure they were complied with.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Had they [ligature points] been removed after mum’s death maybe people who died the following year might still be here,\u00a0\u00bb Ms Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Mental health has become more in focus since mum’s death but is there a real desire to take these recommendations and others more seriously?\u00a0\u00bb Iris’s son Craig Scott added.<\/p>\n
Paul Scott, chief executive of the mental health trust, said: \u00ab\u00a0My thoughts are with Iris’s family and loved ones and I send my condolences both personally and on behalf of the trust.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0As the inquiry progresses there will be many accounts of people who were much loved and missed over the past 24 years and I want to say how sorry I am for their loss.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0All of us across healthcare have a responsibility to work together to improve care and treatment for all and to build on the improvements that have already been made over the last 24 years.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A woman who took her own life while on a mental health ward had been threatened and bullied by staff, her family told a public inquiry. Iris Scott, 73, was a patient at the Crystal Centre in Chelmsford, run by the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) mental health services provider, when she died […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}