FORMER patients of an NHS trust under a major inquiry are set to give evidence – recalling incidences that saw them pour boiling water on themselves and become “zombies”.
The Lampard Inquiry is looking into the deaths of around 2,000 mental health patients under Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) care between 2000 and 2023.
Daisy Simpson has said she “didn’t feel safe” in EPUT’s care[/caption]
Daisy said in 2018, she was able to pour boiling water on herself and staff left her detal with the burns[/caption]
Since the hearing began in September 2024, some of the bereaved family members of those who died have been giving evidence.
Now, former patients Louise Mermut and Daisy Simpson are sharing their experience of alleged failures of care at the trust.
Daisy was diagnosed with depression and anxiety as a teenager and spent years in and out of mental health services.
She’s revealed she “didn’t feel safe” in EPUT’s care and that staff were “cruel”.
In one incident in 2018, Daisy claims she was able to pour boiling water over herself while in a mental health unit, and staff left her to deal with burns.
“They just gave me a bowl of water and a J cloth,” she told ITV News.
“The burns were sticking to the fibres of the J cloth.”
Louise was admitted to the baby unit at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford, also in 2018.
She suffered with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), for years, but said she’s been treated successfully for a decade by a private health provider.
When she decided to have a baby she was advised to stop taking the medication which kept her OCD under control.
But this caused a deterioration in her mental health and a subsequent admission to the mother and baby unit.
During this time, she said staff didn’t listen to her when she explained she was having a relapse and claims she was prescribed the wrong medication.
She said she was left “feeling terrible, feeling like a zombie.”
Both women said they were discharged from care without appropriate plans being put in place to look after them as outpatients.
In September last year, Melanie Leahy told how her son Matthew died eight days after being admitted to a “hell on Earth” mental health facility.
She claimed he was “alone, malnourished, over-medicated, scared, bleeding, bruised,raped, injected multiple times, ignored and frightened” while under the care of “so-called professionals” at the Linden Centre.
Louise Mermut was admitted to the mother and baby unit at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford in 2018[/caption]
Louise said she was left “feeling terrible, feeling like a zombie”[/caption]
The Lampard Inquiry is set to come to a close next Autumn, with recommendations to be reported by the end of 2027.
Paul Scott, chief executive for EPUT, has urged others with experiences of poor care to contact the inquiry.
In response to Daisy and Louise’s cases he said in a statement: “Our thoughts are with Daisy and Louise for the distress they have experienced and I urge anyone who has concerns about their care to contact us directly so we can work together.”
A date has yet to be confirmed as to when Daisy and Louise will give evidence to the inquiry.
The Lampard Inquiry
The Lampard Inquiry is a public inquiry into mental health deaths in Essex, England, particularly in relation to 2,000 deaths of mental health patients in Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT).
While the Independent Inquiry was tasked with mental health deaths in all of Essex, covering multiple NHS trusts, the lessons learned from the Independent Inquiry process has focused the attention on EPUT, and the two trusts that were merged to form EPUT, as that’s where the large majority of deaths have occurred.
The inquiry started on September 9 in Chelmsford, chaired by Baroness Kate Lampard CBE.
Evidence has and is being heard by former patients, bereaved families, experts and staff.
A report of the inquiry is likely to be published by the end of 2017.
It’s possible recommendations in the report could have implications for the way mental healthcare is delivered across the UK.