A woman fromBrighton took her own life while in the care of a mental health trust.
An investigation by the Telegraph has found that more than 350 patients took their own lives after being treated by a mental health trust that was warned 15 times to improve care.
Last night, bereaved families, MPs and charities called for an urgent investigation by ministers and health regulators into missed chances to prevent suicides.
According to figures obtained by the Telegraph, over 300 patients took their own lives at the trust between 2016 and last year.
Coroners warned the trust over a number of failures, including incorrect discharges, medication errors, and a lack of supervision of mental health patients.
The trust provides mental health care to those in the county, including the seat of the current minister for mental health. She didn't reply to the request for comment.
The prevention of future death reports were sent to officials by the coroners.
The family of a woman who hanged herself at the trust's wards felt that lessons had not been learned from her death.
The person who suffered with emotional personality disorder was Bethany Tenquist.
Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary and chair of the health and social care select committee, called on the Government to intervene.
It's important for grieving families to know whether vital opportunities to learn lessons and prevent tragedies have been missed and whether there are deeper, more systemic issues at this trust.
I hope regulators and Ministers will take notice of this.
The number of people who have taken their own lives at the trust is very concerning.
I hope regulators and Ministers look into this matter and conduct an independent inquiry as quickly as possible.
The families of those who died must be included in any inquiry. They have been waiting for answers and have lost faith in the system.
Nadine Dorries, the health minister at the time, announced an inquiry into Essex trusts in January last year after the deaths of 11 mental health in-patients between 2004 and 2015.
Coroners want to improve the quality of care.
Over the past five years, coroners at inquests into patient deaths have told the trust on 15 separate occasions to improve the quality of its care, as seven patients took their own lives on the Trust's wards.
The trust was warned in 2016 after a patient was discharged from the hospital because of communication errors.
She was in the hospital for a week after a serious attempt on her life. She was found dead by a member of the public after being discharged.
Coroners said that Paul Hanton, a patient who had fled from care, was found dead on train tracks in London. The nurses were not sure who would be in charge of his care.
John Richardson, 60, who also fled from care after walking around the grounds of Meadowfield Hospital, was told about by the trust in the next year.
Poor communication with the family, no risk assessments and no further care plans were some of the key failures in their care. They were found dead in the South Downs.
The trust was warned over the death of Tenquist, who was found hanged in her hospital room. An inadequate care plan and a lack of training and staff were serious concerns according to the coroner.
In 2012 there was a holiday in France.
During the inquest, the coroner felt he had to write to the trust again to warn them that vulnerable patients were continuing to self harm and dangerous objects were not being removed from their rooms.
The trust was warned in 2020 over the death of a man who was found hanged in his hospital room. There was no formal review, care plan or adequate risk assessment done for his mental health.
He was believed to have been dead for some time after he was found.
The director of INQUEST said that the figures were concerning because so many people had died while under the care of the state.
After each death, we hear platitudes about learning lessons, and yet preventable deaths continue, and we see a clear and enduring pattern of failure of the trust to deliver the systemic changes needed.
We know from our work that these are national issues.
There is no plan to investigate.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that they had no plans to conduct an inquiry into the deaths of people in the area.
The inquiry into Essex will draw conclusions.
High quality care is the trust's absolute priority. Keeping patients safe, providing effective treatment, and working with people to make sure they have a positive experience are some of the things this is about.
Learning from serious incidents, listening to feedback, and making changes to improve patient care are some of the things we do. We try to do this in a way that promotes a culture of openness, honest reflection and action.
We are committed to doing everything we can to prevent people from feeling that taking their own life is their only option.
She used to say that she didn't think they cared about her.
Beth Tenquist took her own life in Mill View Hospital.
She died three years ago last Sunday.
There were a number of serious failures by the trust to keep her safe.
Her family, including her mother, told the Telegraph that she would like to see an inquiry into the Trust, and would do anything she could to help those still on the wards.
They told the Telegraph that Beth had an eating disorder for around five years before she was admitted to the hospital.
Her family told the Telegraph that she didn't have much outpatient support.
The inquest found that follow-up appointments were never sent to her.
She used to say that she didn't think they cared about her.
She had an eating disorder for six years and then it blew up in the last two years before she died.
She said in the inquest that she had never seen anyone as sick as Beth. We were never told that.
Another relative had a suicide attempt after it all.
The family said that they only got help after a meeting with the head of the Sussex Partnership.
We think it will keep happening.
You don't go into the profession and be like this.
My family had never experienced mental health problems before. It takes a long time to understand what it is.
The family of Beth told the Telegraph that there was a young doctor in charge of the whole hospital and that staff did not react quickly enough.
The lady who found Beth, hanged on the door, a care assistant, was told at the inquest that she didn't know what the name of the device was.
Beth was being attacked by another patient who thought she was the person attacking her.
She was so upset because the core of her problem was being bullied at school and now she was being bullied in the hospital by another girl.
We don't know why they didn't move my daughter or the other girl to a different ward.
If you are in a room for 24 hours for your own safety, we thought she would be safer there than running around the streets or anything, but you are going to get worse unless you get some sort of therapy or help.
We don't understand how you're supposed to get better.
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