Mental health trust that failed suicidal Shrewsbury man responds to coroner's finding
A mental health trust which failed a suicidal patient has responded to the coroner's findings about his death.
Earlier this week, Shropshire's Deputy Coroner, Heath Westerman, detailed a series of failings in the care provided for Jack Doran.
Jack, 28, and from Shrewsbury, was allowed to walk out of the Redwoods Centre mental health hospital in Shrewsbury on September 4, 2022, without any of the staff noticing.
Tragically Jack, who had struggled with his mental health for a number of years, took his own life later that day.
Mr Westerman had heard that the hospital had not passed on specific concerns from Jack's mum, Jane Bright, and his sister, Charley Doran, just days earlier.
Both had warned staff at the hospital that they believed he was suicidal.
When Jack went missing it also emerged that the hospital had no contact number for him – despite him having been a patient at the facility a number of times.
The inquest heard how a serious incident review had led to 18 recommendations to prevent a repeat of what happened to Jack.
Concluding Mr Westerman said: "It is clear that since his death, much work has been done as outlined by the 18 recommendations and actions that have been completed.
"It is, however, always sad when it takes the death of a young person such as Jack to be the catalyst and initiative for such change."
Speaking following the inquest the Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the Redwoods Centre, expressed its sympathies to Jack's family, but stopped short of saying sorry for the failings.
A spokesman said: “We wish to extend our sincerest condolences to Mr Doran’s family and friends.
"We have looked carefully at the circumstances of Mr Doran’s death, and reflected on anything that we can learn.
"We are committed to providing high quality care and have taken steps to address a number of areas, including trust practices, record keeping and reinforcement of staff training.”
Jack's family had spoken of their sadness and anger at his care – describing it as "diabolical".
Jack's sister said: "We thought they would listen to us."
She added: "But clearly they didn't. The information was not passed on and they allowed him to walk out to his death."
