Hayley Smith: Failure to take blood tests 'contributed to death'

The inquest is being held at the Shepway Centre in Maidstone

Failure to take blood tests and a breakdown in communication contributed to the death of a woman being treated for anorexia, an inquest has heard.

Hayley Smith, 27, was being treated at an eating disorder clinic in Ipswich, but given leave to return home in Canterbury for Christmas.

The jury heard Ms Smith had not had a blood test for three months before she died on 29 December 2019.

Dr Ty Glover said: "They didn't know how poorly she was."

The hearing at the Shepway Centre in Maidstone was told Ms Smith was being treated at The White House, a specialist residential eating disorder clinic in Ipswich.

The jury heard she had last had a blood test on 23 September 2019 - more than three months before she died.

The Kent coroner, Catherine Wood, asked Dr Glover, a consultant psychiatrist who was appearing as an expert witness, whether a failure to take blood tests had contributed to Hayley's death.

He replied: "Yes."

If you are affected by any of the issues in this story, you can find support on the BBC Action Line.

Dr Glover said The White House staff "didn't know how poorly she was".

He said: "That was the problem. They thought her BMI was okay-ish so they probably thought she was doing ok."

Dr Glover said he believed there was evidence to suggest that Hayley had been "falsifying" her weight.

He said blood tests would have identified there was an issue, saying a "liver-function test would have alerted them", and a white blood cell count that may have picked up on her nutrition levels.

Dr Glover told the hearing the problem was caused by a "fragmentation of care".

The inquest continues.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].