THE mother of a woman who died at an NHS hospital where staff “played of their phones” has slammed their “indifference and ignorance”.
Alice Figueiredo, 22, tragically took her own life in a mental health unit at Goodmayes Hospital, Redbridge, after 19 similar attempts.
The young woman, who had been diagnosed with bipolar and an eating disorder, was treated on Hepworth ward.
An investigation found plastic items had not been removed from communal toilets on the ward, which Alice used to harm herself, on the day of her death on July 7, 2015.
The North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) was today fined £565,000 plus £200,000 costs after being found guilty of breaching health and safety.
The Judge noted its finances were in an “absolutely parlous state” and a fine could impact on services.
Ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa, 54, was also convicted of failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of patients on the Hepworth ward.
Both Aninakwa and the trust had denied wrongdoing but declined to give evidence.
Aninakwa was found to have failed to record and address Alice’s self-harm episodes, jurors heard.
Judge Richard Marks KC sentenced him to six months in prison, which was suspended for 12 months.
Aninakwa must also carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
The judge took into account the 10-year delay in the case in his decision to suspend Aninakwa’s jail sentence.
Judge Marks described former head girl Alice as a “beautiful vibrant young woman” who was “hugely talented” and had an “extremely” attractive personality.
He said: “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”.
He said: “I am in no doubt that there was a complete failure to adequately assess and manage the risk that this posed.”
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Alice’s mother Jane Figueiredo claimed her daughter’s ward had been a “death trap” and changes needed to be made.
She told reporters that “a fatality was waiting to happen”, while Alice was “failed horribly and experienced a litany of failures which crushed her spirit and ended her life”.
Mrs Figueiredo said the hospital “regularly shut down” and “silenced” Alice’s cries for help.
She added: “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.”
The Old Bailey heard that keeping the communal area temporarily locked while Alice was on the ward would not have been an issue beyond one of “inconvenience”, the judge said.
Judge Marks also said Aninakwa had failed to address “major concerns” of Alice’s mother which 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.”
Earlier in a victim impact statement, Alice’s mother and former hospital chaplain Mr Figueiredo addressed the ward manager.
Mrs Figueiredo told the court: “What she did not like on your watch in 2015, Mr Aninakwa, was being treated by some staff with unkindness, harshness, indifference, ignorance, even at times cruelty or being endangered and left at risk by neglectful and incompetent staff some of whom seemed to be clueless about their duties and responsibilities, a fact you were often in denial of.”
She paid an emotional tribute to her “uniquely beautiful, brave, affectionate, generous, kind, colourful, creative” daughter, who had a “luminous spirit”.
“The impact of Alice’s untimely, preventable death on every aspect of my life and our life as a family has been immeasurable,” she added.
Alice was first admitted to the Hepworth Ward in May 2012 for an eating disorder and bipolar affective disorder.
The investigation into her death began in 2016 but charges were not brought until September 2023.
NELFT was found not guilty of corporate manslaughter and Aninakwa was found not guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.
Nina Ali, partner at Hodge Jones and Allen, represents more than 120 families at the Lampard Inquiry – which is investigating the deaths of mental health inpatients in Essex.
She said: “What happened to Alice is indefensible. Today’s sentence offers no deterrent to the healthcare professionals and trusts who repeatedly fail vulnerable patients in their care.
“Lip service is repeatedly paid to lessons having been learned when all the evidence makes clear that lessons have not, and are not being learned. Only a custodial sentence for those responsible for wholly preventable deaths like Alice’s will genuinely get trusts to sit up and start taking responsibility for their ongoing failings and take the necessary steps to prevent more deaths.
“Jane is currently excluded from the Lampard Inquiry because of arbitrary rulings about geographical borders but we will now be appealing to the chair to reconsider her initial refusal and to grant Jane core participant status to enable her to fully participate in the inquiry.”
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
