'Grave concern' that hospital's unsafe staffing levels have not improved since Sophie's death

CORONER WARNS THAT PATIENTS ARE AT RISK AT MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY BECAUSE OF LACK OF SUITABLE HELP

- By JOSEPH CONNOLLY

A CORONER says she has “grave concern” over staffing levels at a mental health hospital where neglect contributed to the death of a woman in their care.

Sophie Towle, 22, died from a large blood clot in her lung on May 27, 2024 at Sherwood Oaks Hospital in Mansfield, run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The jury at her inquest found that she was subject to substandard care and that a number of failures by the people and authorities caring for her had probably played a part in her passing.

On Friday, October 31, coroner Alexandra Pountney published her Preventions of Future Deaths report ~ a paper made by a coroner when they believe that action needs to be taken by an authority to prevent future deaths.

Within it, Ms Pountney alludes to hearing from “numerous witnesses” at the inquest that staffing levels on Fir Ward - the ward on which Sophie stayed - were insufficient at the time she died, and still are now.

“The result of that, I am told, is that the wards cannot run safely and patient care and safety [is] negatively impacted,’ Ms Pountney has written in the report.

“Staff simply do not have time to complete essential tasks on the ward (like physical observations, completing care plans and risk assessments etc.) or give the patients the 1:1 time they require.

“This is an issue of grave concern. It suggests that the minimum levels of staff are too low, the staff pool is not sufficiently experienced across the board, that the wards are not functioning safely and that patients are at risk of death as a result.”