Failures over teenage mother's care, inquest finds

A jury has found there were repeated failures and a lack of professionalism in the care of a teenage mother who took her own life at a mental health hospital in West Sussex.

Morgan Betchley, who was autistic and from Chichester, was 19 when she died on a ward at Meadowfield Hospital in Worthing in March last year. She was the mother of a one-year-old boy.

On Friday, an inquest into her death found while Morgan was responsible for her own death, her treatment was “made unnecessarily stressful".

The Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust says policies have since been reviewed to improve safety and risk management and involve families more in care plans.

Morgan’s mother Tanya Betchley said her daughter had been “passed from pillar to post” between care services during the final six weeks of her life. She had been admitted and discharged from Meadowfield Hospital three times.

Ms Betchley told the BBC: “It’s been horrifying to hear about the failings and the multiple missed opportunities to prevent her death.

“It was very difficult for me to hear that on multiple occasions Morgan was almost actively encouraged to leave the hospital despite being incredibly unwell.

"I would like to see that changed. I would like to see the families involved far more."

In a narrative conclusion, jurors said failures by staff at Meadowfield Hospital included the admissions process, understanding of existing diagnoses, record keeping, family involvement and discharge planning.

They also said care should have been more closely aligned with Morgan’s autism.

Jurors also said staff had failed to act professionally regarding a letter of apology Morgan wrote to staff after an incident of assault which led to a “fractured therapeutic relationship”. Staff had not accepted her apology, the inquest heard.

The trust said in a statement that it acknowledged its failures and offered it’s sincere condolences to Morgan’s family.

It said: "Following Morgan's death, we have introduced measures to improve safety and risk management on our inpatient wards, as well as increasing the involvement of families in the care and treatment of our patients."

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