Emma after studying at university had married in 1991 and had two children.
In 1999 she had suffered a breakdown and spent time in a Plymouth Hospital before returning to live with her parents. Her marriage had broken down and her health deteriorated and eventually she had decided her children should go to live in Yorkshire with relatives.
She had been frustrated and upset by being unable to see the children as often as she would have liked.
Although she had been living in Wadebridge, in December 2002 she had returned to her parents home nearby, and in the weeks before her death had become increasingly distressed.
On the evening in question she had run out of the house and her mother had tried to ring Kernowdoc for assistance. Mr B. said that prior to leaving the house she had made rational statements about sorting out her affairs but had never given any indication of wanting to take her own life.
Emma had been found at a friend's home in Polzeath and was taken back to her parents while further attempts were made to contact Kernowdoc. Calls were also made to the ward at Bodmin Hospital where she had previously been an in-patient and the family was, told that she would have to go to Redruth as there was no bed available in Bodmin.
Emma had then run from the house once more and was not seen alive again.
Mrs B. said she had initially rung the hospital for advice and had been told she needed to be admitted to hospital in - Redruth, as there was no bed available at
Bodmin.
She was also advised to speak to Kernowdoe who were contacted at 9.45pm.
Mrs B. said:
'It was very difficult to speak to a non-medical receptionist. But I tried my best and they said they would get a doctor to ring us back as soon as possible. Thirtv minutes later I rang again and the receptionist told me I was in a queue and that the doctor would ring when he could." It was at this time that Emma left the house for the first time.
The doctor eventually rang at 10.30pm but when he was told she was not at home he said he could not do anything.
Mrs Barlow said she then rang the police and while talking to them Emma and her father returned.
"I rang Kernowdoc again
and they asked me to give them all the details,
again as they had no record of my previous calls.
I was very angry, but they said the doctor would ring as soon again as possible."
The parents told the inquest they were "absolutely happy" with the way in which the incident had been handled by the police and Coastguard, all of whom had been helpful, understanding and efficient. After hearing further medical evidence relating to Emma's mental problems and conferring in private with the parents - Dr Carlyon announced that she was adjourning the hearing. to a date to be fixed and that she was using her powers to enable Kernowdoc to produce a transcript of the calls made by Mrs B.
'If they have been destroyed I shall be asking what their policy is, she said.
Dr Carlyon also said she would be asking the police for their policy on dealing with missing persons and for a statement on the non-deployment of the helicopter and non-authorisation of the launch of the naval aircraft.
The Health Care Trust would also be asked to explain its response to the parents, its policy on emergency admissions and reason for there being no emergency bed available in Bodmin on the evening in question.
Sunday Mail (Scotland)
CHARGED
Hospital in court for failing to save Rhona
By Marion Scott
A HOSPITAL is being prosecuted for failing to stop a young patient hanging
herself, the Sunday Mail can reveal.
Sunnyside Hospital in Montrose, Angus, is the first in the UK to be charged
over the suicide of a patient.
The court action follows the death of Rhona
McDonald, 37, who hanged herself from a window in her room at Sunnyside.
Bosses were charged last week with failing to remove fixtures previously
identified as a hanging risk.
The psychiatric hospital's management, Tayside Primary Care NHS Trust, were
charged at Arbroath Sheriff Court with failing to take adequate measures to
stop Rhona hanging herself.
The historic legal move has been welcomed by mental health campaigners
determined to halt the rise of suicides in Scotland, which reached 878 last
year.
The trust face a number of criminal charges under Health and Safety
legislation in connection with Rhona's death on November 3, 2001.
They were charged with failing to ensure patients within ward 8 at Sunnyside
were not exposed to health and safety risks between April 1999 and November
2001.
They were also charged with failing to remove fixtures, making them
inaccessible, or taking any other equally effective measures to reduce the
risk of hanging.
Last night, Rhona's father Ken, 59, of Arbroath, said: ''We've been waiting
for this moment since my daughter died.
''No family should ever have to face losing a loved one like this. It's not something you ever come to terms with, and we miss Rhona dreadfully.''
The court case has been applauded by mental health campaigner Alex Doherty.
Alex's brother Joseph, 30, jumped to his death from the Erskine Bridge 11 years ago after absconding from Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow despite being on ''suicide watch''.
Alex said: ''Criminal charges should be taken against any hospital which fails to take proper safety measures. The deaths of hundreds of vulnerable mental health patients have been ignored for years.''
Ian Harper, of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, said:
''Hospital
patients under close observation should never be able to kill themselves,
yet they do in alarming numbers.
''We support the Crown Office for taking this stance.''
Tayside Primary Care NHS Trust said they were unable to comment. The Crown Office said: ''We believe this is the first prosecution of this kind in the country.''
From the Sunday Mail (Scotland)
---------------------------------- posted by rosemary Surrey UK www.mentalmagazine.co.uk
The public
are becoming tired of not receiving prompt and
adequate explanations for mishaps, serious incidents and tragedies.
This Inquest is in the public space eleven months after the event.
Every carer of the mentally ill wants to be satisfied that this was looked immediately
by the Cornwall Partnership Trust that provides community mental health care and the Primary Care Trusts who commission and pay for it - with your money.
That
all is being done that needs to be done.
Mental illness suffers from the tendency to embarassment taking precedence over the 'need to know'. Carers particularly and the local public in general want an immediate and satisfactory explanation when things have gone wrong.
There is no need nor requirement to wait for an inquest.
That may suit the Trusts but it does not meet the worries of the local carers and their families.
The past shows it is no good just leaving it to the 'suits' to spin a suitably emollient answer.
We want the full glare of publicity to shine out on these mishaps.
And an immediate answer and what has been done to improve care.
Lessons have to be learnt so that when our turn comes, things will be better and those who should respond will know that the pubklic expects a good standard in public accountability.
Either the public services are satisfactory and serious incident is found to have been unavoidable and why that was is explained fully; or the services were not satisfactory, and immediate steps are to be taken and explained.
The delivering Cornwall
Partnership Trust has had to endure overcrowded admission
wards, with underfunding of aftercare
services for seven years now.
General hospital (secondary )
based service has overspent by £30,000,000 +, over the same period.
The mental health hospital based services - [ that is the specialist secondary health service ] -cannot do everything, when constantly under-funded and has accumulated over the years since 1996, eight million pounds underspend
Some part of the whole system is bound to fail.
I'm sorry for the staff working under these restrictions.
The aftercare community services which have to come up with some community response in challenging situations has been deprived of over a million pounds a year during these seven years, the money to respond to these kind of community pressures going instead to the primary carer services - the family doctors - who used to react to such emergencies - they knew their local patients.
They do not do that kind of service now - despite over one million pounds per year being removed from the hospital based mental health service - which might have responded better with more resource, and a better founded admission service - and having the funding given over to backing the family doctor service - which was not there for this crisis.
go to inquests,tragedies, and families - what the public should expect
What do you all think of this out there.?
Please answer using the message Board
... to start a new message topic or to follow a message on the message board.back to Cornwall funding history - how it came to this
Co ntributions from the Cornwall Partnership Trust Board welcome - or staff employed - with your experience; no need to give your full name - maybe use a pseudonym, but indicating your position of interest.