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West Lane Hospital: Government apologises after teenager deaths

BBC Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily MooreBBC
Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore all died within months of each other under the care of the trust

The government has apologised after an investigation found three teenage girls died after "multifaceted and systemic" failures in NHS mental health care.

Christie Harnett, 17, Nadia Sharif, 17, and Emily Moore, 18, had complex mental health needs and were patients at West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Health minister Maria Caulfield told MPs the investigation findings made "for painful reading".

A whistleblower said bosses ignored workers when they raised concerns.

Ms Caufield said: "The death of any young person is a tragedy, and all the more so when that young person should have been receiving care and support.

"I want to apologise for the failings in the care that they received."

After the three reports were released on Wednesday the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) admitted the hospital had "unacceptable failings" and apologised unreservedly.

MICHAEL HARNETT Black and white picture of Christie Harnett.MICHAEL HARNETT
Christie Harnett's family said she had been a talented artist who loved to sing and dance

The health minister did not not rule out a public inquiry but said one would have to be "on a national basis and not just on an individual trust basis".

She said a decision would be made "in the coming days".

Ms Caufield said: "As we've seen in maternity very often when we repeat these inquiries they produce the same information and we need to learn systemically about how to reduce these failings."

She said public inquiries often took many years and "we've clearly got some cases now which need some urgent review and some urgent action".

NHS England had commissioned a system-wide investigation, she added.

Family Photograph Nadia SharifFamily Photograph
Nadia Sharif's family said their daughter had been "caring and very bright"

West Lane Hospital, which closed in 2019 following the deaths, provided specialist child and adolescent mental health services, including treatment for eating disorders.

The young women, who had been friends, died within eight months of each other.

An inquiry into how they had been cared for found 120 failures in "care and service delivery" across a number of agencies.

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Miss Harnett, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, took her own life at West Lane Hospital in June 2019 and Miss Sharif, from Middlesbrough, died there two months later.

Miss Moore took her own life in February 2020 at Lanchester Road Hospital. She had previously been treated at West Lane in 2018 and 2019.

Family Photograph Emily MooreFamily Photograph
Emily Moore was an animal lover who loved to shop, her family said

The young women's families had previously called for a public inquiry.

Sedgefield Conservative MP Paul Howell urged ministers to back one.

"It is imperative that we do all that we can to give the families of these young ladies what little satisfaction can be delivered by a proper and full inquiry into these atrocious failings," he said.

Miss Harnett's family had said "nothing will ever be the same again now that our sunshine has gone", he told the Commons.

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