The devastated dad of a teenage girl who died while being detained at a mental health clinic has spoken out after an inquest ruled that “inadequate care” contributed to her death.
Nadia Shah, 16, was found unresponsive in her bedroom at Elysium Healthcare’s Jasper Ward at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, in January 2019.
The clinic provides care, treatment and support for young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties across Hertfordshire and London.
At the time, the teenage girl was detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 and staff delayed in commencing appropriate CPR.
A 999 call was made – which was described as “chaotic” and that it “lacked focus” – with medically trained staff not being able to pass key basic information to the emergency services.
Nadia was eventually taken to hospital where she died a few days later.
Following his daughter’s death, Alkesh Shah, 58, instructed medical negligence experts at Irwin Mitchell to investigate Nadia’s care under Elysium Healthcare.
Staff fail to act appropriately in treating Nadia (Photo: SWNS)
During an inquest at Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court, the jury concluded that Nadia’s death was caused by “misadventure contributed to by the inadequate care at Potters Bar Clinic” and “there was an unsatisfactory implementation of the care plan and a failure to sufficiently engage and provide cohesive care.”
Furthermore, the jury said “there was a lack of clarity around the application of the observation policy and a failure to adequately report observations to properly inform assessment of risk.”
It heard that there was “clear concern raised by the paramedics about delays to CPR” as well as “the quality and effectiveness of the CPR”, as detailed in a Root Cause Analysis Report.
An intensive care consultant advised that Nadia’s life would probably have been saved if appropriate life support was given when staff…
Source : times
