Mental health patient who was moved without warning died five days later

EVEN HER DOCTORS WERE NOT TOLD SHE WAS GOING, INQUEST TOLD

- By JOSEPH CONNOLLY Local democracy reporter

A TEENAGER with a serious personality disorder died five days after being transferred to a new mental health hospital without warning, an inquest has heard.

Louise Furlong, 19, had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), meaning that any change in her circumstances could be seriously damaging to her mental health.

But on September 7, 2022, she was taken from Bassetlaw Hospital near Worksop to Highbury Hospital in Nottingham, run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, without prior warning.

Her jury inquest - opened on Monday by coroner Alexandra Pountney at Nottingham Coroner's Court - heard that not even the consultant psychiatrist or her multidisciplinary team at Bassetlaw had any idea that the transfer was taking place. They arrived the next day to find she had gone overnight.

Less than a week later, on September 11, Louise, known as “Loulou” to her family, was found unconscious in her room with a ligature around her neck. She died the next day at Queen's Medical Centre.

Healthcare worker Sylvia Quaye-Mensah, of Monsall Avenue, Ilkeston, was charged with neglect after her death and pleaded guilty on November 18. She is expected to be sentenced on March 2.