Family blames austerity after ‘serious’ care failures led to death of 26-year-old trainee nurse

‘The more you think about it, the more you realise that this is what 10 years of austerity does. Why was an NHS hospital relying on bank staff, with zero-hour contracts, to care for such complex patients?’ say siblings

Bethany Tenquist was found unconscious with self-inflicted injuries in her room at Mill View Hospital in Hove in East Sussex in December 2018

The family of a 26-year-old trainee nurse who died by suicide while she was a patient on a mental health ward have blamed austerity for her death after an inquest concluded “serious” care failures were among the causes.

Bethany Tenquist was found unconscious with self-inflicted injuries in her room at Mill View Hospital in Hove in East Sussex in December 2018.

Tenquist, who developed an eating disorder after going through a series of traumatic events, died from her injuries two-and-a-half weeks later.

The inquest found the young woman’s death on the Caburn Ward was likely to have been caused by the dearth of safety plans to address the stockpiling of prescription drugs, alcohol access and her allegations of being bullied by another patient.

Staffing levels were at a crisis point on the night she took her own life, the inquest heard.

Tenquist reported bullying by other inpatients as well as a physical assault on the ward. She was said to have had a sexual relationship with another patient that was potentially abusive and exploitative but no formal safeguarding referral was submitted for this – with the jury finding this to be a failure.

“There is an overarching feeling of sadness,” Beth’s siblings said in a statement. “Ultimately, we feel that there has been a failure of the system. The more you think about it, the more you realise that this is what 10 years of austerity does. Why was an NHS hospital relying on bank staff, with zero-hour contracts, to care for such complex patients?

“Mum has done everything for Beth, not just throughout her life – looking after her 24/7. Since Beth died, mum’s entire year has been focused on compiling information for this inquest. She’s been unstoppable, no matter what we said, because she wanted to see justice for Beth.”

There was an incident of bullying perpetrated by another patient the day before Tenquist was found.

Tenquist was distressed and agitated by what had happened and tried to raise this with an employee, but, according to her mother, staff said Beth was “emotional” as she had consumed alcohol.

She reported the bullying to Sussex Police, who told her mother, Bernadette, they would call her again the following day to follow up the complaint.

Selen Cavcav, a senior caseworker at Inquest, a charity that deals with state-related deaths, said: “Caburn Ward was not a place of safety for Beth. It was a ward in crisis with a dangerous culture. Inexperienced staff, unregulated access to dangerous items and unchecked bullying and exploitation. Beth was failed by the services which should have protected her.

“Part of the reason families go through this painful process is to ensure that no one has to live through the same experience. However, this is not the first time these same failings have contributed to a death on this same unit. Enough is enough. There is an urgent need to create an independent national oversight body to monitor action taken in response to recommendations from inquests. This is vital in order to prevent future deaths.”

Tenquist, who was from Brighton, is described as having a “joyful” and “bubbly” personality, and a talent and passion for music and the arts by her family.

She was referred to an eating disorder clinic when she was 20 and was diagnosed with emotional unstable personality disorder. Her final inpatient admission to the Caburn Ward was in September 2018, a few months before she died.

Some of the major issues raised at her inquest focused on her being left alone in her room for 10 minutes despite the fact she had been spotted staggering, staff not managing her access to alcohol, administrating prescription drugs to her after she declined to be breathalysed and there being a delay in an ambulance being called and employees reacting to the emergency.

A paramedic who gave evidence said an early response could have saved her life.​

The inquest heard Tenquist regularly used alcohol as a coping mechanism and this intensified the risk of her self-harming. She was said to regularly seem intoxicated, although alcohol was banned from the ward.

There was a dependence on temporary staff that led to searches to confiscate alcohol, stockpiled medicine and dangerous objects not being carried out every day as they should have been, the inquest heard.

A blood test showed Beth had consumed medication she was not prescribed in at least one instance.

Basmah Sahib, of Bindmans, who is representing the family, said: “Although the jury’s findings are in tandem with the candid admissions of the NHS trust’s witnesses, it is very difficult and sad to hear that Bethany’s death was preventable. We hope that the NHS trust will address these systemic issues so that the lives of the women on Caburn Ward are protected in future.”