Nadia Shah: Teen's clinic resuscitation chaotic, says father

Nadia Shah's sister described her as "loyal, brave and selfless"

The father of a 16-year-old who died said attempts to resuscitate her at a mental health clinic appeared "to be chaotic", an inquest heard.

Nadia Shah was found unresponsive while being detained under the Mental Health Act at Potters Bar Clinic, Hertfordshire, in January 2019.

Her inquest heard her death came days after a review of her section.

Her father, Alkesh Shah, told the inquest jury he "never believed" she intended to take her own life.

He said he believed it was a "call for help".

Senior coroner for Hertfordshire, Geoffrey Sullivan, told the inquest that Nadia, who was from Cambridge and had complex post-traumatic stress disorder with psychotic features, was "deemed to be a risk to herself".

Nadia Shah was a "beautiful young girl with a heart of gold", her father said

The coroner said that when she was admitted to the clinic - run by Elysium Healthcare - in 23 October 2018 she was "under one-to-one observation", but at the time of her death she was being "observed four times an hour".

He said the "immediate events" that led to her death occurred on 12 January 2019, when she was found unresponsive, and she died three days later at Barnet General Hospital, having suffered an "unsurvivable brain injury".

Nadia's father said she was kept in a medically-induced coma before the family elected to have her life support switched off.

Mr Shah added he felt the clinic "let her down" and that attempts to resuscitate her "seems to be chaotic".

'Heart of gold'

In statements from her family, the jury heard of the affect on her of her parents' divorce and a time when Nadia nearly drowned in the family swimming pool as a toddler.

Her father called her a "beautiful young girl with a heart of gold".

He said that on 7 January there had been a meeting to review her section, however it was decided she would be kept at the clinic as there was "no [alternative] accommodation for her at that time".

"I think she was desperate to leave Potters Bar Clinic and have her section lifted," he said.

The Potters Bar Clinic is run by Elysium Healthcare

The inquest heard that on 12 January 2019 she had gone on home leave to be with her father, and he said she "felt hopeless about the clinic finding a bed for her".

Mr Shah said she gave no indication she would self-harm or attempt to take her own life and he had taken her back to the clinic.

The inquest, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.