Poor quality care plan ‘may have contributed’ to Emily Moore’s harm, court hears

A mental health nurse told a court that an inadequate care plan may have caused harm to an 18-year-old girl who took her own life in hospital.

Emily Moore, from Shildon, County Durham, was a patient at Lanchester Road Hospital, near Durham, when she died in February 2020.

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Foundation Trust is being prosecuted by the health regulator Care Quality Commission (CQC) Regarding allegations that there were lapses in her care.

The trust denies the charges.

During the hearing at Teesside Magistrates’ Court, the judge was told Emily was being checked every 15 minutes and had spent the morning of February 13, 2020, at a craft workshop.

Emily, who had been in hospital for eight days and had been self-harming, returned to her room in the afternoon and was last seen by staff sitting on her bed looking at her mobile phone. She is on the social media site Instagram, she said.

Emily was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of her room, and the alarm went off 15 minutes later. She died two days later in the hospital.

The CQC alleges that the TEWV trust failed to provide Emily with safe care and treatment, which resulted in her taking her own life.

Expert witnesses gave evidence at the hearing on Tuesday (February 27).

Tim McDougall, a mental health nurse who is independent of the trust, said it was his opinion that the quality of Emily’s care plan was poor.

He told the court: “In my opinion, the elements of care provided to Emily were not safe.

“The quality of the interventions and the safety plan lacked guidance to keep Emily safe. We cannot say that they harmed Emily, but they may have contributed.”

The trust objected to this.

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Dr. Francesca Denman, an independent psychiatrist, was called as a defense witness and asked to review Emily’s care plan.

She told the court it was her opinion that it was safe. She said, “You can see that there was a plan and that plan came to fruition.”

In response to questions from the trust’s lawyers, she said the nature and scale of the risk was understood when Emily arrived on the ward.

The trust told the judge it acknowledged Emily’s care plan was not the gold standard and had shortcomings, but said it was fit for purpose.

TEWV has never been prosecuted. They have been charged with three counts of violating the Health and Social Security Act.

One concerns Emily Moore, which has been denied and is why the trust is in court. The trust also pleaded guilty to two other charges. Judgment is expected to be handed down on these trusts next month.

One of the other charges is Christy Harnett, 17 years old The other case relates to the death of a woman who died in Rosebery Park, Middlesbrough, in 2020, and whose identity is being protected by the courts.

The trial continues.

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