The Priory's Owners Fined After Death of Patient

Court hears of 'shambolic' conditions on ward in Roehampton clinic


Francesca Whyatt. Picture: Facebook

Participate


Witness Appeal After Robin Hood Gate Horse Attack

Terrorism Suspect Prison Break Lorry was Stopped in Putney

Roehampton Student Guilty of Murder After Hunting Down Partner

Sign up for our weekly Putney newsletter

Comment on this story on the

November 17, 2023

The owners of the Priory Clinic in Roehampton have been fined £140,000 following the death of a patient in its care over a decade ago.

21-year-old Francesca Whyatt, from Knutsford in Cheshire was found unconscious on Emerald Ward having attempted to take her own life.

She was rushed to hospital on 28 September 2013 but died three days later.

Francesca had suffered with her mental health since she was 15 and was admitted to the Priory in March 2013 to the ward which specialised in treating personality disorders.

There had been twelve instances of errors by staff on Francesca’s ward over the previous ten days and the clinical services manager and hospital director had received an email describing the situation as ‘an utter shambles’. Dr Adrian Lord, head of the clinical team on the ward where Francesca was being treated stated that he had 'no confidence in the staff to maintain safety' on 13 September 2013.

Mistakes by staff included leaving the front door open and allowing Francesca to get hold of a hacksaw which had been dropped by a maintenance worker even though she was supposed to be under constant observation being checked six times an hour.

Judge Tony Baumgartner said in his summing up that Francesca’s ‘tragic and untimely’ death had been due to a ‘freak combination of events’.

Members of her family were at the trial and they told of how Francesca had begged to be moved somewhere else.

On the day she was found unconscious, a different patient had self-harmed and threatened staff which meant that their attention was distracted as they dealt with the police. In the afternoon, another patient escaped from a garden and a member of staff had to retrieve her. This led to Francesca being on her own in a lounge area which was not properly monitored.

The judge, in his summing up said, the unprecedented circumstances of the day combined with an over reliance on agency staff jeopardised safety. An earlier inquest into Francesca’s death held in 2017 had found there were very few experienced staff on duty at the time.

Priory Healthcare Limited admitted failing to discharge a duty under Section 3(1) Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It has since closed the Emerald Ward.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.