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NHS urged to publish delayed report on hospital 'witch-hunt'

The NHS is under pressure to publish a delayed review into a bullying scandal at Matt Hancock’s local hospital that involved senior clinicians being asked to provide fingerprint samples in a “witch-hunt” for a whistleblower.

The “rapid review” into West Suffolk hospital, which Hancock had to recuse himself from because of his friendship with the boss at the trust, was ordered in January and had been due for completion in April. Its publication was put back to this month because of the coronavirus pandemic. But it is now not expected until spring.

The Doctors’ Association UK suspects the conclusions are being sat on because they make embarrassing reading for the trust’s chief executive, Steve Dunn, described by Hanock as a “brilliant leader”.

A consultant who chairs the hospital’s medical staff committee wrote to the NHS’s regional director for the east of England, Ann Radmore, last week warning that senior medics felt the hospital could not move on until the review was published.

The NHS East insists the review will be published as soon as possible, but a source confirmed this is likely to be “spring next year”.

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NHS urged to prioritise cancer care basics over tech and AI ‘magic bullets’

The NHS must concentrate on the basics of cancer treatment rather than the “magic bullets” of novel technologies and artificial intelligence, or risk the health of thousands of patients, experts have warned.

In a paper published in the journal Lancet Oncology, nine leading cancer doctors and academics say the NHS is at a tipping point in cancer care with survival rates lagging behind many other developed countries.

The NHS has not met its target for 85% of cancer patients to start treatment within two months since December 2015. International research shows that every four weeks of delay in treatment increases the risk of death by up to 10%. It means hundreds of thousands of people have to wait months to start essential cancer treatment, and only 67% begin treatment within 62 days.

The paper highlights 10 pressure points that are contributing to entrenched cancer survival inequalities, diagnosis and treatment delays, and inappropriate care.

In a sharply worded warning, the cancer experts say “novel solutions” such as new diagnostic tests have been wrongly hyped as “magic bullets” for the cancer crisis, but “none address the fundamental issues of cancer as a systems problem”.

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Source: The Guardian, 8 July 2024

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NHS urged to back plan to help patients harmed by mistakes

Patients and families who suffer avoidable harm as a result of mistakes in the NHS should be given targeted help and support to recover.

Campaign group the Harmed Patients Alliance and patient safety charity Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) believe the NHS needs to develop a specific harmed patient pathway to care for families affected by errors in their care.

They are hoping to define what the pathway will look like in partnership with families, patients and NHS trusts with the idea of piloting an approach in the NHS and getting it adopted nationally.

There are more than two million safety incidents reported in the NHS every year, with more than 10,000 incidents resulting in severe harm and death.

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Source: The Independent, 11 February 2021

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NHS unions vote to accept government pay deal after months of strikes

Health unions representing the majority of NHS workers have voted to accept the government’s pay deal after months of strikes.

In a joint statement, members of the NHS Staff Council said the unions agreed to the deal for staff on the Agenda for Change contract, which includes all NHS workers apart from doctors, dentists and senior managers.

Unison and GMB unions - as well as smaller unions representing midwives and physiotherapists - voted to accept the deal, while the Royal College of Nursing voted against it. However, those in favour of the deal had the majority.

This bank holiday weekend saw the most extreme strikes yet from nurses with no exceptions for A&E, critical care and and cancer agreed nationally

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Source: The Independent, 2 May 2023

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NHS unable to treat every child with eating disorder as cases soar

The NHS can no longer treat every child with an eating disorder, a leading psychiatrist has warned, as “worrying” figures reveal hospital admissions have risen 41% in a year.

A dramatic surge in cases during the pandemic has left already struggling community services overstretched with many unable to care for everyone who requires help, experts said.

NHS Digital data for England shows a sharp rise in admissions in every area of the country. The provisional data for April to October 2021 – the most recent available – shows there were 4,238 hospital admissions for children aged 17 and under, up 41% from 3,005 in the same period the year before.

Charities said the fast rising number of hospital admissions was “only the tip of the iceberg”, with thousands more children needing support for eating disorders.

Dr Agnes Ayton, the chair of the eating disorders faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “The hidden epidemic of eating disorders has surged during the pandemic, with many community services now overstretched and unable to treat the sheer number of people needing help. We are at the point where we cannot afford to let this go on any longer."

“Early intervention is key to recovery and to preventing serious illness, which is why it’s crucial that the money announced by government urgently reaches the frontline. The government must also deliver a workforce plan to tackle the shortages in eating disorder services so that they have enough staff to treat everyone who needs help.”

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Source: The Guardian, 4 January 2021

 

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NHS trusts warned that ‘legacy debt’ could pose patient safety risk

Clinical safety officers (CSOs) have warned that patient safety could be put at risk by healthcare organisations’ historical failure to comply with digital clinical safety standards.

The Digital Health Networks CSO Council has issued an advisory statement for NHS trusts and integrated care boards about the potential consequences of not completing tasks such as hazard logging and safety case reporting for software.

It follows a BBC investigation, published in May 2024, which found 126 instances of serious harm linked to IT issues across 31 trusts, including three patient deaths. 

“There will be a lot of trusts which have this ‘legacy debt’ of systems that they have had for many years, where they either haven’t asked the manufacturer for their side of the deal (which is required under DCB 0129) or they haven’t done their side of the deal in house (which is required under DCB 0160),” said Faye Clough, lead clinical safety engineer and CSO at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

She told Digital Health News that this could lead to “patient safety incidents, reports of IT incidents, IT errors, and the reputational damage that could come out of that for trusts”.

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Source: Digital Health News, 20 January 2025

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NHS Trusts still push women to have natural births despite maternity scandals

Hospitals are still promoting a “natural birth is best” philosophy – despite a succession of maternity scandals highlighting the dangers of the approach.

A Telegraph investigation has found a number of trusts continuing to push women towards “normal” births – meaning that caesarean sections and other interventions are discouraged.

On Saturday, the Health Secretary has expressed concern about the revelation, vowing to raise the matter with senior officials.

Guidelines for the NHS make it categorically clear that a woman seeking a caesarean section should be supported in her choice, after “an informed discussion about the options”.

Maternity services were last year warned by health chiefs to take care in the language they used, amid concern about “bias” towards natural births.

The warning from maternity officials followed concern that women were being left in pain and fear, with their preferences routinely ignored.

The findings come 18 months after Dame Donna Ockenden published a scathing report into maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, which warned that a focus on natural birth put women in danger. 

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Source: The Telegraph, 23 September 2023

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NHS Trusts spent £20 million battling whistleblowers, workplace discrimination claims and employment disputes

NHS Trusts have spent nearly £20 million in four years battling whistleblowers, defending claims of workplace discrimination and fighting employment disputes, the Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

Data obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) has revealed that a minority of healthcare trusts, often advised by the same law firms, are repeatedly running up huge legal bills.

Former health minister Sir Norman Lamb said some of the NHS employment cases he has witnessed in the last eighteen months involved ‘scandalous’ uses of public money. “It is not all NHS trusts in the country, but there are a small number where the culture is clearly wrong,” said Sir Norman.

Commenting on the findings, Tim Farron, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, who has fought for whistleblowers in his own constituency,  said: “Millions of pounds of tax payers’ money is being spent across our health service by NHS Trusts defending their actions in employment tribunals in cases of discrimination and unfair dismissal. It is only right that questions are being asked."

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Source: The Telegraph, 1 February 2020

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NHS trusts in England offered extra funding to recruit overseas nurses

Health service trusts in England are to be given additional funding to recruit nurses from overseas amid record staff shortages and increased demands.

For nurses recruited between 1 January and 31 March 2023, trusts will be able to claim £7,000 per overseas nurse from NHS England. This is up to £4,000 higher than the financial support on offer during 2021-22.

The move was unveiled by NHS Employers on its website last week and confirmed to Nursing Times by NHS England.

NHS Employers said the additional funding reflected the rising costs of flights, accommodation and preparation costs for the nursing and midwifery objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).

The OSCE forms part two of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s test of competence and is a practical exam in which overseas nurses and midwives are tested on their clinical and communication skills.

Responding to the move, Unison’s head of health, Sara Gorton, said: “Extra cash to tackle the chronic staffing shortages in the NHS is essential.”

She warned that, until NHS staff vacancies ware addressed, there “will be a need for overseas recruitment”. “But it has to be done in the best interests of the individual workers,” she added.

Ms Gorton highlighted ongoing concerns about unethical recruitment of nurses from overseas and the poor treatment many report facing.

“Sadly, overseas nurses are still being exploited by unscrupulous care and health employers,” she said. “This is no way to treat those who come to offer the UK their help.”

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Source: Nursing Times, 27 September 2022

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NHS trusts dropped from maternity failings review

Two NHS trusts have been removed from a review of maternity failings across England.

Trusts in Shropshire and Leeds have been dropped from the government's rapid reviews of "failures in the system", after it was confirmed last month they were two of 14 trusts to be looked at.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) was removed after "discussions with West Mercia Police about the detail and schedule of [an] ongoing investigation". The decision has left families in the county shocked.

The news Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTH) is no longer included in the review comes after a "separate maternity inquiry announced by the Secretary of State" on Monday, officials said.

The national inquiry is due to urgently look at the worst-performing maternity and neonatal services in the country and to report back by December.

North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan said she was concerned how "a review into maternity care in the UK doesn't think it can learn from one of the most in-depth investigations into failings at a maternity unit over decades".

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Source: BBC News, 22 October 2025

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NHS trusts criticised over system that films mental health patients in their bedrooms

NHS trusts are facing calls to suspend the use of a monitoring system that continuously records video of mental health patients in their bedrooms amid concerns that it breaches their human rights.

Mental health charities said the Oxevision system, used by 23 NHS trusts in some psychiatric wards to monitor patients’ vital signs, could breach their right to privacy and exacerbate their distress.

The call comes after Camden and Islington NHS foundation trust (C&I) suspended its use of Oxevision after a formal complaint by a female patient who said the system amounted to “covert surveillance”.

The Oxevision system allows staff to monitor a patient’s pulse and breathing rate via an optical sensor, which consists of a camera and an infrared illuminator to allow night-time observation.

It includes a live video feed of the patient, which is recorded and kept for 24-72 hours, depending on the NHS trust, before being deleted. Oxehealth, which created the system, said it was not like CCTV because staff could only view the video feed for about 10-15 seconds during a vital signs check or in response to a safety incident.

The system, which is also installed at Exeter police station custody suite and an Oxfordshire care home, can alert staff if someone else has unexpectedly entered a patient’s room or if they are in a blindspot, such as the bathroom, for too long.

Alexa Knight, associate director of policy and practice at Rethink Mental Illness, said: “While we appreciate that the motivation for putting surveillance cameras in people’s bedrooms stems from the need to protect them, to do so without clear consent is unjustifiable and this pilot should be suspended immediately.”

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Source: The Guardian, 13 December 2021

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NHS trust wrongly claimed £5m for maternity care

An NHS trust at the centre of concerns over its poor maternity services has had to repay almost £5m after wrongly claiming it provided safe care to mothers and their babies.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was paid the money after saying its services met safe standards of care and staffing.

But a subsequent investigation by the health service's litigation arm, NHS Resolution, found the trust had not met the standards and asked for the money to be repaid to the NHS.

The trust received the money under a programme called the Maternity Incentive Scheme, which is run by NHS Resolution to encourage the health service to provide good maternity care.

Hospitals are asked to judge their performance against a range of standards, including listening to patients' concerns, staffing levels and properly investigating deaths.

If a trust meets all 10 safety measures, it can get a rebate on its insurance premiums as well as a share of the money paid by trusts that do not meet all the goals.

For the past two years, the Leeds trust reported it had met all 10 standards and was paid £4,887,084 from the scheme.

But the regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), published a damning report in June about maternity services at the trust. Care was rated as inadequate, the lowest level, and it warned that women and babies were being exposed to "significant risk".

The report prompted NHS Resolution to ask Leeds to re-examine its submissions to the Maternity Incentive Scheme. The subsequent review found not all safety standards had been met, forcing the trust to repay all the money it had received.

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Source: BBC News, 24 September 2025

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NHS trust withdraws ‘dangerous’ advice to women on how to achieve a ‘normal birth’

An NHS trust has been criticised for advising pregnant women to stay at home for as long as possible during labour to increase the chances of a “normal birth”. University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust also suggested mothers should avoid having epidurals or inductions and should try to have a home birth.

The advice has been described as “shocking” by experts, who said the guidance was contrary to evidence and could be “dangerous” for mothers and babies. Others criticised the language used by the trust which suggested women who needed medical help were somehow “abnormal”.

Earlier this month, the Bristol trust paid out £5.8m in compensation to the family of a six-year-old boy after he was left brain damaged at birth following complications during labour.

After being contacted by The Independent, the trust deleted the childbirth advice from its website and accepted it was “outdated”.

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Source: The Independent, 13 February 2020

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NHS trust was negligent in failing to recognise child’s serious bacterial infection, says High Court

A High Court judge has ruled that an NHS trust was negligent in failing to consider early enough that a toddler with fever, lethargy, and vomiting might have had a serious bacterial infection and to give her intramuscular antibiotics.

Mr Justice Johnson said that doctors from University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust should have ordered a lumbar puncture on the 15 month old girl on the day she was first seen or the next day.

The girl, referred to in court as SC, was sent by her GP to the hospital by ambulance on 26 January 2006 with a note describing his findings on examination and ending “?meningitis.” The GP, Mark Dennison, had given her intramuscular penicillin.

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Source: BMJ, 22 June 2020

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NHS trust under investigation accused of hypocritical email to staff

The boss of a hospital trust being investigated by police for alleged negligence over 40 patient deaths has been accused of sending a hypocritical email urging staff to have the courage to raise concerns despite the dismissal of whistleblowing doctors.

The investigation, Operation Bramber, was sparked by two consultants who lost their jobs after raising concerns about deaths and patient harm in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments of the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton.

In an email to staff on Friday, the chief executive, George Findlay, said the trust was committed to learning from its mistakes. He said: “When things do go wrong, we must be open, learn and improve together. That openness is how we give people courage to raise concerns and make a positive difference to patient care.”

James Akinwunmi, a consultant neurosurgeon who was unfairly dismissed by the trust in 2014 after he raised the alarm about patient safety, said Findlay’s email was “laughable”.

He told the Guardian: “Whistleblowers, including myself, have done exactly what he is encouraging in the email and they were sacked for it, so you can draw your own conclusions. I suspect what they are doing is damage limitation. Instead, they should be dealing with surgeons who have been a problem for years.”

Another more recent whistleblower, who did not want to be named, expressed incredulity at Findlay’s claim that he wanted to encourage staff to raise concerns.

They said: “The email is hypocritical. How can staff have the ‘courage to raise concerns’ after what has happened to those who have? Those brave enough to blow the whistle about patient safety have been sanctioned, lost their job and had their lives destroyed.”

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Source: The Guardian, 3 December 2023

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NHS trust to review all suicides since 2017

The deaths of dozens of people who took their own lives while patients of an NHS trust will be reviewed after concerns were raised.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) will review all 63 suicides since 2017.

It comes after the trust was accused of adding to the records of a patient the day after he took his own life to "correct their mistakes".

The patient, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and substance misuse, had been under CPFT's care for two months when he died in Ely in 2017.

Last month, his mother Angelina Pattison, from Newmarket, Suffolk, told the BBC his care plan "was done when he died - when they were running around to correct their mistakes, which they have done".

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Source: BBC News, 25 July 2023

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NHS trust to improve digital messaging for deaf and deafblind patients

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS FT has launched a deaf digital inclusion project, to find the best practice for communicating with deaf and deafblind patients.

The project will look at the barriers faced by the patients around digital communications, and how to help the staff become more deaf aware.

The deaf and deafblind patients supported by the trust, their carers, staff, and members of deaf wellbeing groups and networks, are taking part in the project to help provide the best digital communications support to meet deaf patients’ needs.

The project is led by the trust’s deaf services team which provides a range of support to deaf and deafblind people aged 18 and over, who mainly use British Sign Language (BSL) to communicate, who also have mental health problems.

Emmanuel Chan, Clinical Nurse Specialist for the deaf services team, :explained: “People who are oral and require lip reading can find video appointments a challenge if others on the call are not fully deaf aware and talk over one another. Alongside our project, our team aims to help our staff become more deaf aware to avoid this happening.”

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Source: NHE, 26 April 2021

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NHS trust pays £30m to boy branded “naughty” after behaviour is linked to birth injury

A 7-year-old boy who has spent most of his life being branded naughty and disruptive has won a settlement of more than £30m after it was discovered that he had sustained a brain injury after negligent delays in his delivery at University College Hospital in London.

The settlement is thought to be one of only a handful of NHS clinical negligence payouts to exceed £30m.

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Source: BMJ, 1 November 2019

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NHS trust investigates cluster of ‘unusual infections’ in children’s hospital

A number of “unusual infections” have been discovered among patients at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH), prompting investigation by an NHS trust.

NHS Grampian said they were taking a “very precautionary approach” and looking for any potential links that these infections could have to the hospital environment.

These precautions include relocating some procedures, with the trust also warning that there may be delays in treatment for a small number of patients.

They were keen to point out that the hospital will continue to admit and treat patients as normal whilst the investigation is ongoing.

An NHS Grampian spokesman explained: “While we investigate the causes of this – and whether or not there is a link to the hospital environment – we are taking a very precautionary approach.

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Source: The Independent, 16 May 2021

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NHS Trust introduces artificial intelligence for monitoring eye health

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has adopted artificial intelligence (AI) to test the health of patient’s eyes. In collaboration with doctors at the trust, the University of Kent has developed AI computer software able to detect signs of eye disease.

Patients will benefit from a machine-based method that compares new images of the eye with previous patient images to monitor clinical signs and notify the doctor if their condition has worsened.

Nishal Patel, an Ophthalmology Consultant at the Trust and teacher at the University said: “We are seeing more and more people with retinal disease and machines can help with some of the capacity issues faced by our department and others across the country."

“We are not taking the job of a doctor away, but we are making it more efficient and at the same time helping determine how artificial intelligence will shape the future medicine. By automating some of the decisions, so that stable patients can be monitored and unstable patients treated earlier, we can offer better outcomes for our patients.” 

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Source: National Health Executive, 22 November 2019

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NHS trust fined for lack of candour in first prosecution of its kind

A hospital trust has been fined for failing to be open and transparent with the bereaved family of a 91-year-old woman in the first prosecution of its kind.

Elsie Woodfield died at Derriford hospital in Plymouth after suffering a perforated oesophagus during an endoscopy.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) took University Hospitals Plymouth NHS trust to court under duty of candour regulations, accusing it of not being open with Woodfield’s family about her death and not apologising in a timely way.

Judge Joanna Matson was told Woodfield’s daughter Anna Davidson eventually received a letter apologising over her mother’s death, which happened in December 2017, but she felt it lacked remorse.

Davidson said she still had many unanswered questions and found it “impossible to grieve”.

The judge said: “This offence is a very good example of why these regulatory offences are very important. Not only have [the family] had to come to terms with their tragic death, but their loss has been compounded by the trust’s lack of candour.”

Speaking afterwards, Nigel Acheson, the CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals, said: “All care providers have a duty to be open and transparent with patients and their loved ones, particularly when something goes wrong, and this case sends a clear message that we will not hesitate to take action when that does not happen."

Lenny Byrne, the trust’s chief nurse, issued a “wholehearted apology” to Woodfield’s family. “We pleaded guilty to failure to comply with the duty of candour and fully accept the court’s decision. We have made significant changes in our processes.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 September 2020

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NHS trust fined £200k over vulnerable girl's death

An NHS trust has been fined £200,000 for failing to provide "safe care and treatment" for a 16-year-old girl who died on hospital grounds after fleeing her ward.

Ellame Ford-Dunn, from Upper Beeding, West Sussex, died at Worthing Hospital in March 2022 where she had been admitted as a mental health inpatient.

She ran into the grounds of the hospital and was not immediately followed by a nurse because of "confusion" and a lack of appropriate procedure in place, the court heard.

Last month, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust (UHST) pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment to Ellame which exposed her to a significant risk of "avoidable harm".

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Source: BBC News, 26 November 2025.

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NHS trust failings may have contributed to Bristol student’s death, inquest finds

A string of failings may have contributed to the death of a “deeply vulnerable” law student who killed herself while being treated in a psychiatric hospital in Bristol, an inquest jury has said.

Zoë Wilson, 22, had informed staff she was hearing voices in her head telling her to kill herself and 30 minutes before she died was seen by a nurse through an observation hatch looking frightened and behaving oddly but nobody went into her room to check her.

Speaking after the jury’s conclusions, Wilson’s family said that Avon and Wiltshire mental health partnership NHS trust (AWP) should face criminal charges over the case. AWP said it accepted it had fallen short in its care of Wilson.

Zoë on the 17 June 2019 she told staff she was hearing voices telling her to kill herself and handed over an item that she could have used to harm herself with. She was not moved to an acute ward and other items that she could have used were not removed.

At 1am on 19 June she was observed standing beside her bathroom door looking frightened but staff did not go to her. Thirty minutes later she was checked again and had harmed herself. Emergency services were called but she was pronounced dead.

Giving evidence to Avon coroner’s court, the nurse who saw Wilson at 1am said he had only worked in the unit a handful of times and had not met Wilson before that night.

The jury concluded that steps taken to keep her safe that night had been inadequate and also criticised communication and information sharing.

In a statement, her family, said: “Zoë was a wonderful, bright, and deeply vulnerable young woman. She was on a low-risk ward even when she told staff that voices in her head were telling her to kill herself.”

They called for AWP to face a criminal prosecution by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). “We will continue to fight for justice in her name,” they said. “She will never be forgotten.”

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Source: The Guardian, 27 January 2022

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