Young woman suffered 'ligature strangulation' and went into cardiac arrest after constant observations were reduced to every 15 minutes, inquest told

A young woman being cared for at a mental health unit suffered 'ligature strangulation' and went into cardiac arrest after her constant, one-on-one observations were reduced to every 15 minutes, an inquest has heard.

Amina Ismail, 20, was found fatally injured in her room on the Pankhurst Ward, a locked psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU), at the Priory's Cheadle Royal Hospital, Stockport, on September 15 last year.

Emergency services attended and continued resuscitation attempts which had been commenced by staff, but she was sadly pronounced dead shortly after. A pathologist gave her cause of death as 'ligature strangulation'.

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Amina, originally from Birmingham, had been taken in as an out-of-area patient in the privately-owned hospital under the Mental Health Act since August 2022 - 13 months before she died.

She had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The court was previously told how her struggles began when a police investigation was launched into historic abuse she had suffered as a child.

At the end of a third week of an inquest into her death - heard before a jury at South Manchester Coroners' Court in Stockport - evidence from Dr Jasmeet Soar, an A&E consultant with expertise in cardiac arrest, brain injury and resuscitation, was heard.

Dr Soar said CCTV showed was a gap of 15 minutes from when Amina was seen walking into her bedroom to when she was found unconscious. He said that the 15 minute window would have been 'sufficient time' for her to apply a ligature and suffer a cardiac arrest.

He medic the court a 'reasonable estimate' from application