Rou attended our drop-in, I only met him a few times myself, I think we talked about art.
His mother showed me parts of reports by the LPT and the Coroner’s Report. The first LPT NHS report seemed to almost dehumanize him, he took pain medication and this meant he was described as an “addict” for example. There’s a sense of Catch 22 when managers and doctors talk about suicides - almost as if it is impossible to stop a determined person from killing themselves, as if it is a hazard of the job, as if acute wards find suicide prevention to complicated to handle. They talk about “suicide hotspots” in the local area and “collapsible ligature points” in buildings and yet seem to misunderstand the simplest triggers created by the ward stay and forget the day by day effects of deprivation of basic human dignity and freedom. Unwell people are already beyond their control threshold, you only have to belittle a person once and they will detonate. The Coroner’s narrative verdict, to my eyes, reading between the lines, also raised more questions than it answered.
They had a job of containment, they failed. Even when patients say they are still suicidal or very depressed, their level of observation may have been reduced, (or perhaps the staff are distracted by a louder patient that day) and then the when the patient absconds or attempts to kill themself, the staff say that there were no warning signs. Patients can get very wound up by the environment and staff, something simple like a promised walk being taken away can be devastating to a patient confined to a ward. This happens all of the time.
You can be sure that there were many signs and triggers for Rou, but the focus on patient bullying conveniently distracts attention away from the ward staff. It wasn’t just about moving wards (I was told as much). It was never just about another patient.
As far as I know, neither of his parents received any form of apology for the Unit’s failure in it’s basic duty of care. Although not forgivable, it is understandable that, pending litigation, an apology would be an acknowledgement of responsability. There is an irony in the fact that ward culture and community care workers are often telling patients to “own” their issues and take control or more responsibility in their lives. The hypocrisy is tangible.
Since his and other deaths, the Bradgate eventually installed locked doors with intercoms in the corridors. Prior to this, it was possible, once off a ward, to run down the corridors and out into the carpark -a short cut away from a dual carriageway,
If you ever meet my partner, ask her how far she got on most runs down those corridors and outside, before collapsing.
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