Investigation and inquest
On 4th August 2015 I commenced an investigation into the death of Victoria Georgia Halliday.
The Inquest concluded on 23rd September 2016.
Cause of death:
1a Hanging
Circumstances of the death
Narrative.
Vicki's mental health started to deteriorate in the early part of 2015 following a year of stability. She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and admitted for inpatient care in the Bradgate unit, Leicester for diagnosis and treatment. She was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder.
The plan was to care for Vicki in the community with expected ongoing brief admissions in times of crisis.
During June and July 2015 Vicki repeatedly presented in crisis. Numerous missing person reports required police involvement across various geographical locations and she was brought back for psychiatric assessment in Leicester due to concerns for her and the public's safety. On each occasion she was discharged back into the community. There was no effective or robust community support.
Ample evidence was available to suggest that Vicki was starting to experience psychotic symptoms from May onwards, but opportunities were missed to fully and adequately explore these and reconsider the necessity for in-patient care.
On 29 July the final missing person search was commenced. Vicki was discovered to have taken her own life, but her intent could not be established given the well-documented bizarre thought processes she had been experiencing.
Coroner’s concerns
1) There are currently no local psychiatric intensive care unit beds for female patients and this means all female patients can only be placed out of area, potentially many miles away from home and local support.
2) There was no, or no effective, community psychiatric nurse involvement and this was a missed opportunity to monitor and assist Victoria when she was in the community.
3) The “community support” referred to by the in-patient clinicians does not exist in reality for patients with this challenging presentation, leaving discharged patients and their families without adequate support.
4) The care programme approach (CPA) was not adhered to and NICE guidelines were not followed, specifically in ensuring there was a review after 2 admissions within 6 months, and to ensure the roles and responsibilities of all health and social care professionals involved were identified.
5) There is no local network for the community support of patients diagnosed with personality disorder, although evidence suggested such networks were effective when adopted elsewhere.