Morgan Betchley was autistic. She died on 9 March 2023 after applying a ligature whilst a mental health inpatient at Meadowfield Hospital. In the 35 days between 1 February 2023 and her death, Morgan had two lengthy admissions to Accident and Emergency, four different mental health bed admissions including three detentions under section 2 of the Mental Health Act, and spent a day in police custody.
An inquest jury has now found that there were repeated failures by staff at Meadowfield Hospital to follow policies and procedures and that there were “failures relating to admission process, understanding of existing diagnoses, risk management, record keeping, family involvement and discharge planning” which “prevented Morgan from receiving access to services she needed at the time”.
The jury also found that Morgan’s attempt to apologise for an assault during one of her admissions “was not handled in a professional manner by senior staff members of Rowan Ward, leading to a fractured therapeutic relationship” and that “the situation was made unnecessarily stressful for Morgan.”
Charlotte Haworth Hird of Bhatt Murphy acts for Morgan’s family instructing Jessica Elliott of One Crown Office Row.
The family’s full statement following the inquest can be found in INQUEST’s media release.
