A claim for financial compensation relating to daughter’s death

The deceased, a 23 year old woman, had been admitted to the specialist hospital unit under a Mental Health Act section, as she was deemed a significant risk to herself. She had previously made a number of attempts on her own life and, for this reason, was recommended to be under constant observation overnight as she was deemed to be at increased risk during this time. However, the nursing staff did not implement the recommended observation policy and the deceased was not monitored properly. When staff went to check on her they found that she had injured herself and, unfortunately, she died several days later from her injuries.

We represented the deceased’s family at a jury inquest which took place over 5 days, involving evidence from a number of independent medical experts and factual witnesses.

The Coroner highlighted a number of serious failings at the unit and demanded changes to the observation policy, training practices and stricter controls on the techniques used by staff to deal with patients with complex needs.

Subsequent to the Inquest, we also acted for the deceased’s parents in a claim for financial compensation relating to their daughter’s death.