Lauren Bridges: Delays in moving patient, 20, led to worsening mental health before she died, inquest finds
Lauren Bridges took her own life while she was in a mental health hospital 250 miles away from her family. The move was meant to be temporary, but when she died she had been there for nine months.
Friday 1 September 2023 18:31, UK
Delays in moving a 20-year-old woman in a mental health hospital closer to home led to her condition deteriorating before she died, an inquest has concluded.
Lauren Bridges took her own life while she was in a mental health hospital 250 miles away from her family.
The move was meant to be temporary, but when she died she had been there for nine months.
On Friday, the jury at an inquest into her death determined that a prolonged stay at an out-of-area psychiatric unit and delays in her being moved closer to home caused her mental health to deteriorate.
Lauren was a promising "straight As student" with aspirations of becoming a nurse or a doctor.
But she had developed anxiety and OCD, as well as being diagnosed as having autism, and had a mental age much younger than 20.
She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act after being diagnosed with a personality disorder.
Lauren was being treated locally before she was sent to Manchester because of a lack of beds in Bournemouth, her home town - hundreds of miles away in Dorset.
Today the jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure, not of suicide, as they found she "did not intend to take her own life".
Her mother Lindsey Bridges told Sky News that in the weeks leading up to her death, her daughter was "very let down".
"She said that she could see no way out, she was going to be held in that hospital forever," she added.
'My daughter was failed'
Giving evidence at the inquest into her daughter's death, Lauren's mother said she was a "beautiful person inside and out" and "brought so much joy to everyone who loved and knew her".
She told the jury that for Lauren "being forced to live away from home, and being in hospital, caused her to suffer trauma and develop a number of unhealthy coping mechanisms".
Ms Bridges said she spoke to Lauren on the day she was later discovered unconscious and that she was "screaming hysterically, begging me to get her out".
The family maintain that the decision to move Lauren to a facility far away, to what they say was an unsuitable and "chaotic" environment, was a contributing factor in her death.
Ms Bridges also told the court she felt the unit "did not offer the support or therapy Lauren required".
She said Lauren "worked hard to be heard, understood and get home" and that she "cried out for help, help she so desperately wanted".
"My daughter was failed by a system that should have helped and supported her," she said.
On several occasions during Lauren's stay in Manchester, including in the days prior to her death, beds were available in units closer to home, but she wasn't moved.
After the verdict was delivered, the coroner said this was a "tragic loss of a life so full of promise".
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'We can't imagine their pain'
Ms Bridges said that if the government had stuck to their plan to end all out-of-area placements, "then we would still have Lauren, and other families might still have their children".
The government pledged to end all inappropriate out-of-area mental health placements by the end of 2021, but when that deadline was reached, there were at least 660 active inappropriate out-of-area placements (IOAP) in England.
In total, these placements cost the NHS more than £118m in 2021.
A spokesperson for Dorset HealthCare said: "Our deepest sympathies go to Lauren's family and friends for their terrible loss. We can't imagine their pain and grief.
"We have listened very carefully to all the evidence presented at this inquest and fully accept that the systems we had in place to bring people back to Dorset and closer to home were not what they should have been at the time of Lauren's death.
"We profoundly regret that we could not respond to Lauren's need to be nearer to her home and her family.
"Our priority is to address the issues related to Lauren's tragic and untimely death."
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK