Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police
The North East London NHS Foundation Trust has been found guilty of a health and safety offence, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police into the death of 22-year old Alice Figueredo at Goodmayes Hospital in 2015.
The ward manager of the hospital, Benjamin Aninakwa, 53 (25.06.1971) of St Francis Way, Grays was also found guilty of a health and safety offence.
Alice was being treated on the Hepworth Ward at the hospital after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act in February 2015.
During a trial lasting seven months, the court heard that the Trust and Aninakwa failed in their duty of care to protect Alice from harm across the six months she was on the ward, before she took her own life on 7 July 2015.
Alice’s parents, Jane and Max Figueredo, said: “We would like to thank all those involved in the Metropolitan Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and their barristers for their diligent dedication to investigating and prosecuting Alice’s death.
“Thank you for believing that her life mattered and that the way she was so heartbreakingly, abysmally failed by the staff at this hospital, should not just be ignored and kicked into the long grass – which is what we believe NELFT set about doing after Alice died.
“We also want to thank the Judge and the jury in this case for their very evident hard work and conscientious commitment in what has been a much lengthier trial than any of us expected.”
Detective Inspector Jonathan Potter, who led the investigation, said: “My thoughts remain with Alice’s family. They have had to endure years of heartbreak before sitting through a long and difficult trial where they heard time and time again about the tragic series of inactions that led to their daughter’s death.
“This was a complex investigation led by the Metropolitan Police Service, into a unique case that has led to the conviction of the Trust and Benjamin Aninakwa for health and safety offences.
“There is nothing I can say that will bring back Alice, but I hope that today’s verdict offers some comfort to her family.
“While there are thousands of NHS workers that do a commendable job every day, today’s result must also ensure that lessons are learnt to stop the same mistakes happening again.”
Nine months after Alice’s death, following a report by her parents, the Met’s Specialist Crime Command launched an investigation into the Trust and Aninakwa.
To build evidence of the offences committed, officers developed a careful understanding of the ward itself, painstakingly combing through more than 2,600 medical documents, many of them hundreds of pages long, as well as dozens of witness statements from staff, family and friends of Alice. Officers also interviewed Aninakwa and took statements from various members of the trust.
Despite the rarity of a case like this and amid investigative difficulties presented by Covid, officers gathered a range of experts to consult about their experience of being on similar wards. This included nursing staff and psychiatric practitioners, as well as senior colleagues in other NHS trusts and groups including the Care Quality Commission and NHS England.
Their investigation revealed the extent of negligence by the Trust and Aninakwa, who as ward manager, had failed in his responsibility to make sure that Alice was safe.
Although Aninakwa knew that Alice had a history of self-harm – dating back to 2013 when she had previously been admitted, and again in 2015 – officers discovered that he repeatedly failed to report such instances and ensure other staff were aware. This was even though Alice had been, according to Aninakwa himself, his only patient who was actively trying to harm themselves.
In records seen by investigating officers, a mere 13 instances of self-harm were reported, out of a possible 81. Only three of these, out of a possible 19, related to specific items that Alice had used to self-harm on the ward. Even during a scoping exercise by the Trust about the use of possible items, Aninakwa failed to highlight Alice’s history of self-harming behaviour.
As part of a wide range of failings, officers also found that Aninakwa had failed to direct staff to remove specific items from the communal areas of Hepworth Ward. Nor did he ensure that patients were properly observed by staff and that sufficient steps were taken to lock communal areas that were of concern.
Consequently, Alice was able to access one of the communal areas on the ward where she took her own life on 7 July 2015.
Following a complex investigation in partnership with the CPS, the CPS authorised the Met to charge North East London NHS Foundation Trust and Benjamin Aninakwa with health and safety offences corporate manslaughter in September 2023. They were cleared of corporate manslaughter offences at the Old Bailey on Monday, 9 June.
Sentencing will take place at a court and on a date that is yet to be arranged.
Aninakwa was found guilty of an offence under section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, having failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of others.
The Trust was found guilty of an offence under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, by failing to ensure that others are not exposed to risks to their health or safety.