Mum calls for lessons to be learned over daughter's death after hospital neglect

Now the mother of Suzanne Roberts is calling for lessons to be learned.

The 33-year-old, from Knighton, died on October 18, 2015, while she was a patient at The Dene in West Sussex. She had complex mental and physical health needs.

Four days prior, she had been discharged from the Royal Sussex County Hospital where she had been receiving treatment for an arm injury. She also had a high output stoma and had been suffering with an acute kidney infection.

Sussex Police launched a criminal investigation into the running of The Dene following her death and that of two other women. No criminal charges were ever brought.

Suzanne’s mother, Loraine Prowse, and father, Glyn, instructed specialist lawyers to obtain answers as to why she died.

An inquest heard in Crawley concluded that “the decision by staff at the Royal Sussex County Hospital to discharge Suzanne on October 14 was not appropriate and probably caused her death.”

Suzanne’s cause of death was an injury and infection to the kidney. She was also suffering from “chronic dehydration”, an inquest jury heard.

They found that Suzanne’s death was “contributed to by neglect, due to the fact that blood test results showed high levels of potassium, [which] eventually led to heart failure”.

The coroner directed the jury to consider a conclusion of neglect following the findings of inadequate care Suzanne had received at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

The inquest also found that The Dene “failed to meet (Suzanne’s) physical needs during her time there”.

Vital answers

Juliet Spender, public law and human rights expert at Irwin Mitchell said: “The last few years and attempting to come to terms with Suzanne’s death has been incredibly difficult. They have all had a number of concerns about the care Suzanne received.

“While nothing can make up for their loss we are pleased that we have been able to secure the vital answers that Loraine deserved as to how and why her daughter died.

“It is now vital that lessons are learned so no other family has to suffer in the same way.”

Suzanne’s parents said: “Although Suzanne had some troubles in her life, she was very loved by her family and is still greatly missed. She was very clever and had so many artistic talents. Had she had the right support, I am sure she would have been a very successful person.

“Since she was a child, we have struggled to get the support she needed, which could have made the difference to her being here today.

“All we can hope for now is that lessons are learned so no other family has to face what we have.”

Anita Sharma, head of casework at the charity INQUEST who worked with the family, said: “The findings of this inquest expose the shocking level of neglect, which resulted in Suzanne’s premature and avoidable death. Without the tenacity of the family this may never have come to light.

“They stand alongside the families of the other women who have died, and others who have suffered poor care at The Dene, a private hospital which has profited from services commissioned by the NHS and where inadequate care has been well documented. Yet so far no individual or corporate body has been held to account for the failures of Partnerships in Care, now part of the Priory Group.”

A spokeswoman for the Priory Group said: "We offer our sincerest condolences to Suzanne Roberts’ family.

"This sad incident occurred more than a year before Priory Healthcare took over The Dene (now known as Priory Burgess Hill), at which point we made immediate changes to the way the hospital was led and managed, and specifically to the way the physical health of patients was checked and monitored.

"These improvements were recognised by the CQC which rated the hospital as ‘good’ overall, and in all five categories (safe, effective, well-led, responsive, caring), at its most recent inspection in April this year.”

The Royal Sussex County Hospital was approached for comment.