A 16-year-old girl being treated in hospital for mental health issues took her own life after ‘no suitable bed could be found’ for her, an inquest heard.
Ellame Ford-Dunn, 16, suffered a history of chronic mental health problems which manifested in self-harming and an eating disorder.
She was admitted to hospital on February 28, 2022, after repeatedly self-harming.
The youngster was placed in a children’s medical ward but later, on March 10, had to be detained under the Mental Health Act.
However, an inquest heard that no suitable bed could be found for Ellame in a specialist mental health facility and instead she remained on the children’s ward.
The hearing was told Ellame was placed under 24-hour, one-to-one observation by a registered mental health nurse (RMN).
Days later, she managed to leave her bed and attempted to kill herself when the nurse went to deal with another patient.
The teenager was found in a nearby room and was saved by medical staff before being returned to her bed.
But the very next night Ellame, of Upper Beeding, in West Sussex absconded once again and fled out into the hospital grounds.
This time she was not immediately found and police were called to carry out a search.
She was discovered lying in the hospital grounds in a critical condition and died a short time later.
Ellame Ford-Dunn, 16, suffered a history of chronic mental health problems throughout her life
Ellame had remained on the children’s ward at Worthing Hospital (pictured) as no suitable beds were available
At the start of the jury inquest in Horsham today, Joanne Andrews, assistant coroner for West Sussex, said Ellame had remained on the children’s medical ward at Worthing Hospital after she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act ‘as no suitable bed was available’.
In an emotional tribute to their daughter, Nancy and Ken Ford-Dunn, said Ellame was ‘lovely, fun and caring, a sweet, lovable, delightful girl’ who loved dancing and joking.
She was the eldest of three children and was ‘kind and supportive’ to her siblings and loved sea swimming with her younger brother.
Mrs Ford-Dunn said: ‘She had a warm, caring disposition. She was the best big sister you could hope for. There is a great big gap left in our family. Our hearts are broken. She was so loved.’
On the day of her death on March 22, Ellame’s father Ken visited and the pair spent a few hours laughing and joking with each other.
But later that evening her parents became concerned as they realised Ellame had not read a WhatsApp message sent to her.
Nancy Ford-Dunn called the hospital and was told Ellame had absconded 10-15 minutes earlier and they were calling the police.
Mr Ford-Dunn jumped into his car and went to search the nearby beach and train station before seeing police cars heading for the hospital.
When he got there he was told his daughter had been found in a ‘critical condition’ in the hospital grounds. Despite resuscitation attempts, she was later pronounced dead.
Mrs Ford-Dunn said she felt Ellame had been ‘failed’ by mental health services and social services and the whole family had felt out of their depth and unsupported.
Ellame was described as a ‘lovely, fun and caring, a sweet, loveable, delightful girl’ who loved dancing and joking
The inquest heard Ellame had enjoyed primary school but began to struggle when she went to secondary school in 2016.
She suffered from severe stress and would often self-harm as her mental health deteriorated.
The hearing was told her parents had difficulty getting her to go to school and despite seeking help they felt there was very little help from medical services.
As her mental health continued to decline Ellame, who had autism, continued to self-harm and twice tried to commit suicide in 2019.
As the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020, she began refusing to eat and was later diagnosed with anorexia.
She was under the care of Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and had spent over 18 months in inpatient mental health care units.
In 2021, the teenager confided in her parents that she had been the victim of sexual abuse.
After a spell in the Priory Hospital in Manchester she was discharged into the care of Chalkhill Hospital – run by the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
The inquest heard Ellame had enjoyed primary school but began to struggle when she went to secondary school
She spent several months at the hospital receiving treatment to tackle her self-harming and anorexia.
Ellame’s condition was considered to have improved to such a level that she was discharged from Chalkhill Hospital in January 2022.
As well as a care plan she was also assigned a paediatric psychiatrist and an initial meeting between them appeared to go well.
However, the inquest heard, that once back at home Ellame’s condition deteriorated rapidly and she began to self-harm and attempted suicide on more than one occasion.
She was repeatedly taken to hospital after self-harming but was repeatedly discharged after treatment.
Her mother, Nancy, told the inquest: ‘Ellame had concluded that professionals did not want to help her, she felt ignored and unsupported.’
After attempting suicide once again she was eventually admitted to the Bluefin ward – a children’s acute ward – at Worthing Hospital.
A few days later, she was detained under the Mental Health Act after absconding from the hospital.
Ellame was the eldest of three children and was ‘kind and supportive’ to her siblings, according to her mother
However there were no specialist beds available and she remained on the children’s ward.
She was placed under 24-hour one-to-one observation by a registered mental health nurse (RMN).
But the inquest heard that despite the one-to-one 24-hour observation Ellame had complained to her father that she had woken in the night after nightmares to find no-one there.
Mrs Ford-Dunn said she felt Ellame had been ‘failed’ by mental health services and social services and the whole family had felt out of their depth and unsupported.
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