Woman said suicide was ‘only way out’ of Mansfield hospital after mishap led to two-month delay in discharge process
A woman who took her own life in a mental health unit in Mansfield had said that suicide was the ‘only way out’ after the process in starting to find her alternative accommodation was delayed by two months.
Woman said suicide was ‘only way out’ of hospital after mishap led to two-month delay in discharge process.
Rianna Poiana-Lazarec died on January 6, 2025, after an incident of self-harm two days before at the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust-run Sherwood Oaks Hospital.
The inquest into Rianna’s death, which started on June 15 at Nottingham Coroner’s Court, heard evidence from people involved in her prospective discharge from the hospital, which ultimately never happened.
The 20-year-old University of Nottingham student had been a patient on Beech Ward at the hospital since November 7, 2024, and had been an inpatient at various wards and hospitals since July that year.
But while a ‘Notice of Assessment’ (NOA) was sent by staff at Sherwood Oaks to Nottingham City Council – asking for them to allocate Rianna a social worker, to assess her for somewhere to live outside of hospital – this didn’t happen until two months later.
The inquest, in front of a jury, was told that a mishap in administration processes meant that there were delays in the process and that while the NOA was sent in September, a social worker, Istelle Walker, wasn’t allocated to Rianna until November 26.
Rianna had expressed to staff on Beech Ward her frustrations at how long it was taking to consider her potential move, including on November 22, which was documented.
The inquest was told that the process of allocation only began on November 14 after a follow-up email, questioning why things were taking so long, was sent by the hospital – at which point Rianna was added to the waiting list.
After that, it took less than two weeks to get Ms Walker involved.
Giving evidence, Ms Walker told the hearing that she explained to Rianna when she first met her on December 2 that it would be a ‘lengthy process’ to find her supported living accommodation.
She explained that she was ‘honest with Rianna about the process’ and told her that there would be a necessary interim placement in a residential care home first before she could move into her own place, after she’d left the hospital.
During the hearing, the jury heard a statement by Rianna’s named nurse, Laura Wilkinson, which outlined that Rianna had said that she ‘didn’t want to wait’ for supported living and that she would take her own life after her birthday on December 11.
The 20-year-old struggled with the ‘chaos’ of the Beech ward and with other patients on it whom she didn’t like, and, as an alternative to supported living accommodation, had requested moves to both Fir Ward at Sherwood Oaks and Highbury Hospital in Bulwell, run by the same trust.
These requests were considered but were not possible at the time, the inquest was told.
Ms Wilkinson’s statement to the court said that Rianna felt ‘suicide was the only way to escape’ from the ward.
Rianna’s levels of self-harm increased over the Christmas 2024 period before she died a few weeks later.
The statement of a Nottingham City Council adult social care team manager to the hearing argued that the two-month delay ‘did not have a significant impact on the discharge of Rianna from hospital’.
She said that supported living is a ‘scarce resource’ and that Rianna ‘was sadly never well enough to be fit for discharge to any form of supported living accommodation’.
The jury at the inquest were sent out on Friday, June 19, to discuss whether Rianna meant to take her own life, whether she should have been observed more frequently, and other possible factors in her death.
The inquest continues.