A woman whose daughter killed herself on a “death trap” mental health ward in London has called for urgent change after an NHS trust was fined more than half a million pounds.
Alice Figueiredo, 22, took her own life at Goodmayes hospital, Redbridge, after 18 similar 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.
On Tuesday, North East London NHS foundation trust (NELFT) was fined £565,000 plus £200,000 in costs after being found guilty of breaching health and safety.
In setting the amount, Judge Richard Marks KC noted its finances were in an “absolutely parlous state” and a large fine could affect its services.
Benjamin Aninakwa, 54, a ward manager, was convicted of failing to take reasonable care for 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.
Benjamin Aninakwa, who denied wrongdoing, was convicted of failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of patients. Photograph: Emily Pennink/PA
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Jane Figueiredo said her daughter had been confined to a “death trap” that was “a fatality waiting to happen”.
Rather than being given the “compassion, care and support” she needed, Figueiredo was “failed horribly and experienced a litany of failures which crushed her spirit and ended her life”, her mother said.
Jane Figueiredo added that her daughter’s pleas for help were not taken seriously and were “regularly shut down, silenced”. She said: “People behind the locked doors on mental health wards are some of the least seen and heard people in our communities and society. And their voices are all too easily dismissed, used against them or silenced.”
In his televised sentencing remarks, Marks described Figueiredo as a “beautiful vibrant young woman” who was “hugely talented” and had an “extremely” attractive personality. He added: “Her death at such a young age in the circumstances in which it occurred is a terrible tragedy.”
The judge said the accessibility of plastic in the communal toilets was a “very serious problem”, adding: “I am in no doubt that there was a complete failure to adequately assess and manage the risk that this posed.”
Keeping the communal area temporarily locked while Figueiredo was on the ward would not have posed a problem beyond one of “inconvenience”, the judge said. Marks added that Aninakwa had also failed to address the “major concerns” of Figueiredo’s mother that should have “rung major alarm bells”.
He told the defendant: “You knew that she was suicidal – she was the only patient on the ward that was. Your negligent breach of duty went on for weeks.” The judge took into account the 10-year delay in the case in his decision to suspend Aninakwa’s jail sentence.
Figueiredo was first admitted to the Hepworth ward in May 2012 with a diagnosis including non-specific eating disorder and bipolar affective disorder. During her time on the acute psychiatric ward, the trust failed to remove plastic items from the communal toilets or keep them locked despite repeated suicide attempts.
Aninakwa, who was subject to a performance improvement plan, had also failed to ensure incidents of self-harm were recorded, considered and addressed, jurors heard. The trust and Aninakwa, of Grays in Essex, denied wrongdoing but declined to give evidence.
The investigation into Figueiredo’s death began in 2016 but charges were not brought until September 2023. NELFT was cleared of corporate manslaughter and Aninakwa was found not guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
