THE sister of a former air hostess who killed herself after wandering out of a secure psychiatric ward hit out yesterday at hospital failures.
Anne Marie Dooher, 52, had battled depression for 20 years and had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act after two previous suicide attempts, a fatal accident inquiry heard yesterday.
At the time of her death last year she was assessed as b
eing at "high risk of self harm" and detained under a compulsory treatment order at Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary.
She was only allowed off her ward for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time – but on 25 June she left before 11am and never returned. Instead, she returned to her home in Falkirk and killed herself with an overdose of pills, the inquiry heard.
The inquiry heard nurses waited three hours before beginning to look for her and six hours before calling in police.
Yesterday Rosemary Dean, Miss Dooher's sister, said: "Anne Marie went from being a beautiful, successful career woman with her own house, job and a wide circle of friends to being ill, vulnerable and needy. That's what her illness did to her.
"Then the hospital let her down when she was at her most vulnerable."
She explained: "Our mum, Rita, had died three weeks previously and she had been Anne Marie's main support and refuge. When she died it was catastrophic for Anne Marie and she was at very high risk of suicide.
"We thought she was in a place of safety and hoped this would give her time and support to cope with this event before she moved on to supported accommodation.
"We lost our mum and sister in the space of three weeks, and this has been devastating."
Mrs Dean, 45, an occupational therapy team manager, added: "At this inquiry we have learned how shambolic the system was.
"As soon as she went off the ward something should have been done, because she was a high suicide risk, but no-one took ownership of the situation on that day and the system fell apart."
At the hearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court yesterday, PC Alison Robson, who spoke to hospital staff, said: "The staff nurse said she thought she'd be in one of the local pubs, so we went straight to look there." However it was not until 1:20am that officers found her dead on her bed.
PC Robson said the police had been assured that her absence from the ward was of "no immediate concern" and that she was no risk to herself or others.
An internal health board investigation showed "clear failings in communication between staff".
The inquiry was adjourned for further medical evidence. Sheriff Craig Caldwell will give his findings at a later date.
The full article contains 471 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
