Hospital trust fined £500k over death of patient Alice Figueiredo

A hospital trust has been fined more than £500,000 and a department manager given a six-month suspended sentence for the death of a 22-year-old woman on a psychiatric ward.

Alice Figueiredo was being treated at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford when she took her own life using bin bags from a public toilet, having made numerous similar attempts in the past.

North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT), which runs the hospital, and ward manager. Benjamin Aninakwa, 53, was found guilty of health and safety offenses in June. when the Old Bailey jury concluded they had not done enough to prevent Ms Figueiredo's death.

NELFT was fined £565,000 and Aninakwa must also complete 300 hours of unpaid community work.

This article contains material that some may find disturbing.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support and advice is available through BBC Action Line.

The hospital previously acknowledged that keeping bin bags in wards posed a risk to patients and subsequently removed them from patients' bedrooms.

However, despite warnings from the Figueiredo family, they were not taken out of the shared toilet, which remained unlocked.

Old Bailey Judge Richard Marks K.S. described the former head girl as a “beautiful vibrant young woman” who was “extremely talented” and had an “extremely” attractive personality.

He said: “Her death at such a young age, in the circumstances in which it occurred, is a terrible tragedy.”

He added that there was a “complete failure to adequately assess and manage the risk” of storing waste bags in toilet cubicles.

Judge Marks also said Aninakwa had failed to address the “serious concerns” of Alice's mother, which should have “set off serious alarm bells”.

And he said it was “regrettable” that Ms Figueiredo's previous attempts at self-harm had not been recorded.

Addressing Aninakwa, Mr Marks said: “Although you regret Alice's death, you have no real understanding of what you did wrong.

“I find it very disturbing that you clearly remain in a state of denial.”

Aninakwa, who still works for NELFT, said he plans to appeal his conviction for failing to provide reasonable care for the health and safety of patients.

Previously, Ms Figueiredo's mother Jane Figueiredo said the family had been treated with “disdainful contempt, belittling and downplaying” their “valid” concerns about her daughter's care.

In a victim impact statement, she told the court: “This attitude goes against everything that caring for patients in our NHS means.”

She said some staff treated her daughter “unkindly, harshly, indifferently, ignorantly and sometimes even cruelly.”

She described her daughter as “extraordinarily beautiful, brave, affectionate, generous, kind, bright, creative and a bright soul.”

She said: “The impact of Alice's untimely and preventable death on every aspect of my life and our lives as a family was immeasurable.”

The foundation's chief executive, Paul Calaminus, told the BBC he had written to Figueiredo's family to make a personal apology after the verdict.

He said NEFLT “deeply regrets both Alice's untimely death and all that her family and friends have had to endure over the past decade.”

He added that a “tremendous amount” of work had been done to improve patient care, but warned the fine could impact the quality of services.

Ms Figueiredo was first admitted to Hepworth in May 2012 with a diagnosis of non-specific eating disorder and bipolar disorder.

During her stay in the acute mental health unit, the trust did not remove plastic items from public toilets or keep them locked.

She had previously used plastic from toilets to self-harm at least 10 times.

However, the court heard about eight more incidents involving similar material before Ms Figueiredo took her own life.

An investigation into Figueiredo's death began in 2016, but charges were not filed until September 2023.

After a seven-month trial, the trust was cleared of the more serious charge of corporate manslaughter, and Aninakwa was cleared of a charge of gross negligence manslaughter.

As well as the fine, the trust was ordered to pay £200,000 in legal costs.