Teenage patients warned of deaths at NHS trust before three suicides

Laura Kenny says she and other teenage patients at a mental health unit in Middlesbrough warned staff that someone would die.

"We knew somebody would die… and nobody listened," she said.

Her friend Christie Harnett took her own life while a patient at the unit, which an independent report later described as "chaotic and unsafe." Laura said patients had written letters to staff and managers saying one of them would die.

Christie was one of three young women who died by suicide within eight months while under the care of the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. The trust runs mental health services across North Yorkshire, County Durham and Teesside. The other two were Nadia Sharif, 17, and Emily Moore, 18.

More than a dozen former patients told the BBC they experienced a lack of compassion from staff and an absence of meaningful treatment. Families of patients who died outside hospital settings described similar problems. Nathan Evison, 19, died in 2019 after a community mental health team decided not to admit him despite a bed being available. Laurent McNamara died last year after being discharged from Foss Park Hospital in York while still in a manic episode.

Patients and families pushed for a statutory public inquiry. It was announced in December, but they say a March 31 meeting with the Department of Health and Social Care left them without answers on who will lead it, when it will start or where it will be held.

"While our clients appreciate these things take time, they are worried about the continued care being offered by a trust under scrutiny and how, in three months, there appears to be no firm developments," said Alistair Smith of Ison Harrison Solicitors.

The department said it is working "at pace" to appoint a chair and that patients' and families' voices will be central to the inquiry.

An earlier independent inquiry commissioned by NHS England examined the deaths of Christie, Nadia and Emily. Its 2023 report found excessive and inappropriate restraint, staff told not to intervene in self-harm, and managers who tolerated failures. The trust was later fined £215,000 after pleading guilty to failing to provide safe care to Christie and another woman.

Laura described staff at West Lane Hospital responding to self-harm by either ignoring patients or quickly restraining and sedating them. Christie's stepfather, Michael, said staff would pin her down, sedate her and leave her without discussing what had happened.

Emily's father, David Moore, said the failures went beyond the three deaths. "It's multiple, multiple deaths in the trust," he said. "Nobody listened at all. And it's hard to say, but it feels like nobody cared."

Nathan's mother, Jess, said a community team visited her son at his isolated cottage but chose not to admit him. He died hours later. His stepfather, Andrew, said a single phone call to the family could have changed the outcome.

Laurent's wife, Gemma, said staff placed too much weight on his wishes even though he was too unwell to decide what was best for him. "He didn't want to die," she said.

The trust declined to comment on individual cases. Chief executive Alison Smith said it would cooperate with the inquiry "with honesty, openness, humility, grace and kindness."

The trust no longer provides inpatient care for young people. Recent Care Quality Commission reports have noted some improvements in safety and incident reporting. Families say they hope the public inquiry will finally answer their questions and lead to safer care.

Nathan's former colleagues named a footbridge after him in the North York Moors National Park. His mother and stepfather visited it for the first time in February.