Edwina Rawson acted for Deborah Higgs
following the death of her daughter, Crystal, who was aged 21. We
represented Deborah at an inquest that
took place in March 2011 and we are also bringing a claim for
compensation for Crystal’s son.
Crystal had a history of mental health problems, and was
admitted to the psychiatric ward of Edgware Hospital for treatment
run by Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust.
In July 2006, Crystal was accompanied by a nurse to a shop
outside the hospital grounds. The nurse was too junior to be caring
on her own for a patient with Crystal’s condition.
As a consequence, Crystal absconded. She got on a bus, went to
Brent Cross Shopping Centre, and tragically jumped to her death
from the top of the multi-storey car park.
Shortly before the inquest, the
hospital admitted that the care it provided it had been
"sub-standard" in allowing an inexperienced nurse to care for
Crystal on her own.
The coroner found that Crystal would probably "not have
absconded, therefore preventing her death", with proper care to
ensure that Crystal was always in eyesight.
The inquest also established
that staff had neither recorded nor shared with colleagues their
knowledge that Crystal had been having suicidal thoughts in the
days before they agreed to let her go to the shop.
There was also a delay in alerting the police that Crystal had
gone missing.
A police officer told the inquest that if the police had been
informed earlier, a patrol car would have been sent to Brent Cross,
as Crystal had been found previously at the top of the car
park.
On that earlier occasion, a security guard had managed to talk
her into coming down.
Naturally, the family were apprehensive about the inquest, but it answered many of their
questions.
The verdict of the jury was that "a breakdown in communication
could have resulted in relevant information not being made
available during the decision-making process and this could have
been a factor in preventing her death."
Edwina continues to pursue a claim for compensation.
For further information or if you believe you have a legal claim
for psychiatric care negligence, please contact
Edwina
Rawson on 020 7861 4105 or email edwina.rawson@ffw.com.
You can speak to any member of our
medical negligence team on freephone 0800 358
3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com or
complete our short enquiry
form.