THE sisters of a woman who took her own life told an inquest that the mental health care system had failed her.

Sarah Doughty, 44, from Trafford Gardens, in Barrow, in the Ribble Valley, died in Royal Blackburn Hospital on June 13 this year.

The mum-of-one had checked into the Premier Inn in Blackburn on June 4, where she overdosed on paracetamol, and was found the next day. She was taken to hospital but died eight days later.

The court heard that she had overdosed six days prior to this, on May 30, but had been admitted to hospital where she was given treatment and was deemed to have made a recovery.

Following a mental health assessment, she was discharged on May 31.

Her sister, Michelle Doughty, told the inquest at Blackburn Town Hall that Sarah had a number of stresses in her life that were not shared with doctors, including losing her job, anxiety and problems with alcohol.

She had also recently had her daughter taken out of her care.

She said it was disappointing she wasn’t given a formal mental health assessment under the Mental Health Act after her first overdose.

She said: “If she had been sectioned after this first admission to hospital, then responsibility would’ve been taken out of her hands. Without that she didn’t have a chance as she was not capable of changing how she lived her life herself.

“The way the system failed her happened after that first admission.”

Giving evidence at the inquest, John Hewitt, team leader with Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, said that upon assessment on May 31 it was decided that Miss Doughty had the capacity to speak for herself and she wasn’t deemed to be suicidal.

He said: “We know now that that decision was the wrong decision and she had the capacity to know what she wanted to do.”

Sarah's other sister, Karen Riding, questioned the robustness of mental health assessments given to patients like her sister and said something should be learned from her death.

She told the court: “If there’s some lessons to learn then we should take that forward because the system has failed Sarah.

“It’s too late for Sarah but it’s not too late for all the other Sarahs that could come after her.”

Presiding over the inquest, coroner Richard Taylor said: “When Sarah was first admitted to hospital on May 30 she was treated and given advice and convinced everyone she was okay.

“In fact, she was not in a great place, and on June 4 she checked into the Premier Inn in Blackburn where she took another significant overdose with the intention of ending her life.”

Mr Taylor recorded the cause of death as suicide due to acute liver failure and paracetamol toxicity.

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