AN NHS Trust has promised to re-examine the circumstances surrounding the suicide of a mother who had bi-polar disorder.

Janet Featherstone, a nurse from Ingleby Barwick, Stockton, was 52 and hanged herself after being released on weekend home leave in November 2010 from Roseberry Park mental health facility in Middlesbrough.

Since then her family have campaigned for what they argue were issues in her care.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust has already conducted a Serious Untoward Incident (SUI) report and Ms Featherstone’s sister, Pam Taylor of Ingleby Barwick, commissioned a further report by mental health expert Malcolm Rae OBE. An inquest was held, recording a verdict of suicide.

But Mrs Taylor along with Ms Featherstone’s son, Kris Walton, 33, and the rest of her family have raised more concerns that issues already brought up have not been properly addressed.

Mrs Taylor said: “If somebody had given any indication that she shouldn’t have been left alone we would have made absolutely sure she wasn’t.

“Kris and her community health nurse understood that after she was put on a new drug, Venlafaxine, she would be kept in for at least a fortnight, and she wasn’t, she came out before that.

“My biggest irritation is being ignored. By the trust who initially ignored my request for the SUI report, solicitors who tried to dissuade us from hiring legal help and the coroner, whose clerk continued to ignore my emails until I wrote to the coroner himself.

"I really would like to draw a line under this but can't until, in my mind, I know someone, somewhere has made improvements and learned lessons.” The family’s other concerns include:

  • Janet Featherstone’s medical history contained wrong information and, the family believe, was not accessed anyway.

• ‘At-risk’ documents into Janet Featherstone’s state of mind were not completed.

• The family say they were not consulted properly about her care and have not been given her full notes.

  • The NHS Trust indicated at inquest that practices had changed, but no public statement about what those changes are have been made.

All the above points were put to the trust. However a spokeswoman said another investigation, called a further local resolution, was on-going.

She said: “We are continuing our investigation into the issues Mrs Taylor has raised and would encourage her to get in touch again to discuss any further concerns. It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to comment further at this stage.”