NHS trust fined over 'death trap' ward where woman died

A mother whose daughter took her own life on a "death trap" mental health ward in London has called for urgent change after an NHS trust was fined more than £500,000.

- Nadeem Badshah

Alice Figueiredo, 22, killed herself at Goodmayes hospital, Redbridge, after 18 other attempts. Her death on 7 July 2015 followed a failure to remove plastic items from the communal toilets on Hepworth ward that had been used by her to self-harm, a court was told.

Yesterday North East London NHS foundation trust was fined £565,000 plus £200,000 in costs after being found guilty of breaching health and safety laws. In setting the amount, Judge Richard Marks KC noted its finances were in an "absolutely parlous state" and a large fine could impact on services.

Benjamin Aninakwa, 54, a ward manager, was convicted of failing to take reasonable care of the health and safety of patients on the ward that Figueiredo was on. Marks sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, plus 300 hours of unpaid work.