Woman, 24, jumps to her death an hour after she was released from hospital following a flawed evaluation of her suicide attempt
A British woman who attempted suicide but was released from a mental health unit following just a 27-minute "flawed" evaluation went on to kill herself less than an hour after she was discharged.
Karis Braithwaite, 24, from Dagenham, had suffered from depression since she was 13-years-old and had a long history of suicide attempts, according to the Mirror, and on September 23 last year, tried to end her life by jumping onto the tracks at Dagenham Heathway Underground Station. However, her attempt failed after the approaching train managed to come to a stop, and she was rescued by three bystanders, who took her to the Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, northeast London, to be assessed.
An inquest into her death heard that the hospital staff were told the 24-year-old had "an active plan of suicide" and "would succeed" but that they were still not "receptive" to receiving a handover from paramedics. A police officer at the scene also said that the staff was being "obstructive."
Braithwaite was admitted into the hospital and a Section 136 assessment, part of the Mental Health Act, was carried out by two psychiatrists the next day. The assessment lasted just 27 minutes, during which she told staff that she was no longer suicidal, but concerningly also admitted she wished her previous attempt had been successful.
The staff also never saw the key information on her record that showed she had a long history of suicidal tendencies and took a decision to discharge her at 2:30 pm on September 24. She was supposed to have been taken back home in a taxi by a member of hospital staff but was allowed to leave alone.
She caught two buses to Goodmayes Station, where she ended her life at 3:28 pm. Her stepfather, Mark, who had raised her since she was a little girl, was understandably devastated when he was told the tragic news but is now angry at the negligence that ultimately led to her death. "I had no idea about any of the failures, all I knew that she'd died," he said. "When I first found out, I didn't know how to feel. But as it continued, I would say I felt bewildered and dazed. I don't understand how they came to that conclusion based on the evidence they had."
"She said to the paramedic that she had an active plan for suicide," he continued. "She said it again and again and again, yet they never took it into consideration at all." A report commissioned to investigate her death found that Braithwaite "showed clear and unequivocal evidence of suicidal behavior of the highest risk" adding "the decision to discharge Karis so soon after the incident was not based on reliable information."