Patient subject to emotional blackmail, court told

Alice Figueiredo died at Goodmayes Hospital in 2015

A young woman was told by a member of staff at a mental health hospital in London that she would “go to hell” if she took her own life, a court has heard.

Alice Figueiredo, 22, was being treated on the Hepworth ward at Goodmayes Hospital, part of the North East London Foundation NHS Trust (NELFT), when she killed herself in July 2015.

An email which was sent to the hospital by her mother, Jane Figueiredo, said Ms Figueiredo had been subjected to “emotional blackmail” by some staff, the Old Bailey heard.

NELFT has denied corporate manslaughter and ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa, 53, charged with manslaughter by gross negligence, has also pleaded not guilty.

Ms Figueiredo was a mental health patient at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford

A document compiled from a series of statements made by Jane Figueiredo was read to the jury at the Old Bailey, as well as a series of letters to the professionals on the ward about her daughter’s care.

The jury also heard statements written by Mr Aninakwa for the coroner’s investigation into the death. He said he had made numerous attempts to communicate with the family and that he “did not contribute” to Ms Figueiredo taking her life.

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Mrs Figueiredo described her daughter as an intelligent, talented artist and an impressive public speaker. However, she struggled with bipolar affective disorder, which led to overwhelming depression, and an eating disorder, the court heard.

She was admitted to Goodmayes Hospital in February 2015 after a community worker became concerned for her wellbeing.

In her statement, Jane Figueiredo said she would visit her daughter regularly, sometimes six times a week. Her husband, Max, would also visit regularly.

The court heard that Mrs Figueiredo, who worked as a chaplain for NELFT at the time, raised a number of concerns about the treatment her daughter received there.

In one incident Ms Figueiredo harmed herself while she was meant to be on close observations by a care worker.

Afterwards, Mrs Figueiredo wrote to the hospital warning unless improvements were made “it is only a matter of time before there is a fatality on this ward", the court heard.

'Alice needs compassion'

In another email, she said some staff appeared “careless” about the risk to a patient like Ms Figueiredo.

She said “Alice needs compassion, patience and support, not judgmentalism, or being spoken to or treated like she is an offenders’ institution,” the court heard.

Mrs Figueiredo described the comment about going to hell as “uninformed” and that it “failed to see a merciful, compassionate God.”

The court heard Mrs Figueiredo also raised concerns with professionals on the unit about how Ms Figueiredo was treated by other patients – one punched her in the face, and another had been “goading Alice to kill herself”.

She also said by highlighting problems with the care, she felt Ms Figueiredo and the family were being blamed for low morale on the unit.

The court also heard a statement from Ms Figueiredo’s boyfriend Andrew Gordon.

He said he visited regularly, but found the unit was often in “chaos”, with staff sometimes hard to find.

He exchanged texts with Ms Figueiredo on the night she died, and spoke with her on the phone, jurors were told.

He said there “wasn’t anything out of the ordinary”. At 02:00 BST, he received a phone call to say Ms Figueiredo had died.

In his statements to the coroner, written in 2016, Mr Aninakwa said he made sure all staff, including short-term agency and bank staff, received training on how to carry out patient observations.

He went onto say he always acted in the best interests of Ms Figueiredo and all of his patients.

The case continues.