Sally Mays: Nurse who contributed to Hull woman's death struck off

Sally Mays, 22, died at home in Hull on 25 July 2014

A nurse who refused to admit a vulnerable 22-year-old woman to a mental health unit hours before her death has been struck off.

Sally Mays, who had mental health issues, died at home in Hull in 2014.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness to practise committee found the decision by Patrick McKee to send Ms Mays away "contributed" to her death.

Thirty misconduct charges were proven against Mr McKee, who did not attend and was not represented at the hearing.

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A published determination said Mr McKee, who told the NMC in January 2015 he would no longer be working in the profession, was employed as a senior crisis resolution nurse at Miranda House in Hull, run by Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust.

Mr McKee, who would act as a "gate-keeper" and determine whether potential patients met the criteria for admission, carried out a 15-minute assessment on Ms Mays along with an unidentified colleague on 25 July 2014.

Ms Mays was living with severe borderline personality disorder and "was always at a high risk of self-harm and harm to others," the determination said.

Angela Mays pictured alongside her husband Andy Mays at the High Court in London, said they were "relieved" by the NMC move

The hearing, held in London, heard Mr McKee told Ms Mays the reason for not admitting her was a "lack of bed space", even though this "would not be a reason to refuse admission".

Charges proven against Mr McKee include:

• Not sufficiently considering all psychological, social and medical factors as part of her assessment

• Not identifying whether it was him or his colleague who would be leading the assessment

• Not fully taking into account that two care coordinators and a psychotherapist were recommending her short-term admission

• Not further risk-assessing Ms Mays when she banged her head against a wall after the initial assessment

• Using words to the effect of "leave her, she'll faint before she dies" after she began to choke herself

• Using words to the effect of "we want her out of the building" after police attended

Angela Mays, Ms Mays' mother, said: "We're relieved that at last the appropriate decision has been made because we believe it's very important that nurses responsible for very vulnerable people who treat them with such abject cruelty shouldn't ever be allowed to practise again."

Ms Mays was given a 15-minute assessment at Miranda House by Mr McKee and a colleague

Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust said it wasn't able to comment on the specific outcome, but confirmed Mr McKee had not worked at the trust for "a number of years".

"Following the tragic event in 2014, The trust undertook its own investigation and has implemented significant improvements to its processes and strategy since this time, reducing the likelihood of any similar incidents occurring in the future," a trust spokesperson said.

In December, the High Court ordered a fresh inquest into Ms Mays' death after information was "knowingly withheld" from the original inquest, held in October 2015.

The coroner at the time, Prof Paul Marks, said the decision not to admit Ms Mays constituted "neglect" and had she been admitted following an initial assessment she "would have survived and not died when she did".