Psychiatrist who cut monitoring frequency of patient before death 'didn't know 22-year-old was at A&E with self-harm injuries two days before'

A psychiatrist who reduced the amount an in-patient at a mental health unit was being observed in the week before her death has said he was not aware she was admitted to A&E with self harm related injuries less than 48 hours earlier.

Cerys Lupton-Jones was just 22 when she died following a stay of around six months in Park House, a mental health unit based at North Manchester General Hospital. The unit is operated by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust.

Cerys was found ‘unconscious’ on Elm ward on the afternoon of May 13, 2022. She died five days later. Cerys died with her family and friends at her side on May 18, after it became clear she would not regain consciousness and her life support was turned off, her family told the M.E.N.

A pre-inquest review into her death in October heard Cerys was involved in a ‘ligature event’ the previous day, May 12, and another at around 2.30pm on May 13.She was then found unconscious after another incident involving a ligature half an hour later, at around 3pm.

On Tuesday (May 7) an inquest at Manchester Coroner’s court, nearly two years after Cerys’ death, heard the 22-year-old had suffered ‘a number of deliberate self harm incidents’ and was detained under section 3 of the mental health act for treatment.

During her stay at Elm Ward in early May she was under the care of consultant psychologist Dr Bhandary. The inquest heard Elm Ward is a standard ward and not a psychiatric intensive care unit.

Giving evidence on the first day of the inquest on Tuesday, Dr Bhandary said there was ‘no psychiatric rationale’ to place Cerys in a psychiatric intensive care unit but said that over the months of April and May 2022 Cery’s risk of deliberate self harm was ‘high’.

The inquest heard