Trust spent £5m on patient death case

North East London Foundation Trust paid out more than £4.8m over a period of seven years on the legal case relating to the death by suicide of mental health inpatient Alice Figueiredo. The 22-year-old died on a NELFT ward in 2015.

This figure includes £4m paid to law firm Kennedys Law between April 2018 and November 2025. The trust was also fined £565,000 and ordered to pay £200,000 of prosecution costs after it was found guilty in June of failing to ensure Ms Figueiredo’s health and safety.

Benjamin Aninakwa, a ward manager at the trust, was also found guilty of failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of patients on the ward. 

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Source: HSJ, 23 December 2025