Calls for Accountability: Mental Health Trust Failures Responsible for Woman’s Suicide
In April 2022, Linda Banks passed away due to an overdose following weeks of contact with Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust (TEWV), which assessed her as low risk. During the inquest, it was revealed that Ms Banks had a history of mental illness that intensified significantly in February 2022. This escalation was due to the challenges of coping with her mother’s death, financial stress, and ending her use of alcohol.
Linda made multiple calls to the County Durham and Darlington crisis team and was admitted to the hospital twice after overdoses, her family and GP consistently contacted the team to voice concerns about her declining condition.
County Durham assistant coroner, Janine Richards, said a recurring theme emerged in Ms Banks’ care where clinicians consistently overlooked her distress and paranoia, viewing them as not “genuine.” This oversight resulted in an “underestimation” of the risk she posed to herself. Ms Richards concluded that the “actions and omissions” of the trust had contributed to her death more than minimally.
Linda’s brother, Jonathan Banks, highlighted a mental health worker recommended they “give her space” and insinuated that she was “seeking attention,” prompting the family to “step back.” However, despite their decision to back off, her behaviour continued to deteriorate.
Ms Richards concluded the actions taken by the trust after a thematic review were “ineffective” in preventing Ms Banks’ death, adding she “did not receive the right care at the right time”. The thematic review, undertaken by the trust in response to the deaths of four patients in 2021 after engagement with the Crisis Team, identified eight areas of failure, seven of which were still applicable at the time of Ms Banks’ death five months later.
Linda Banks was the “kindest of people” who “worked hard” raising money for various mental health charities.
Lily Lewis, of GCN’s Inquests & Inquiries team, represents the family of Linda Banks. She is instructed by Alistair Smith of Watson Woodhouse Solicitors.
The family of Linda Banks, along with other bereaved families, are campaigning for a public inquiry into TEWV. See recent coverage of the campaign here.
For further information, visit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-67507386.amp
