'Staff shortage left my sister abandoned in A&E'

""If we put this down to an unfortunate event that could be avoided, then we are normalising this to be OK, and it's not," Muriel Tawiah Thompson said. Her sister, Chanel Thompson, had an "unwitnessed" cardiac arrest while waiting overnight in A&E at Barnet Hospital for a mental health bed in December 2024 - despite a plan for her to be under one-to-one supervision."

"The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Barnet Hospital, said it had since conducted a "thorough review" of Chanel's care, including how it could "better respond to the complex needs of patients" who require one-to-one mental health nursing during busy periods in its emergency departments. The day before she attended the north London hospital, Chanel had gone to the theatre with her sisters."

"The following day, however, her family became concerned when Chanel did not answer the door to her flat. Muriel said that after they gained access, they saw her in her bed where she appeared in a "helpless [] frozen state" of confusion. "I'd never seen her like that," Muriel said. Chanel was taken to Barnet Hospital's A&E by ambulance that evening and remained there overnight while waiting for a mental health bed."

A 37-year-old woman experienced an unwitnessed cardiac arrest while waiting overnight in A&E for a mental health bed, despite a plan for one-to-one supervision. She later died seven months after the arrest, from pneumonia secondary to a brain injury caused by the cardiac arrest. The coroner recorded a narrative conclusion and found that inadequate mental health monitoring was a factor in her death. The hospital trust said it carried out a thorough review of her care and considered how to better respond to patients who require one-to-one mental health nursing during busy emergency department periods. Family accounts describe an abrupt onset of confusion and an emergency ambulance admission.

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