THE family of a teenage girl who was found hanged in a hospital say they hope lessons will be learned from her death.

Samantha McCartney, who had a history of severe self-harm, was found hanged in Darlington Memorial Hospital on May 10, 2004.

The 16-year-old, of Forest Moor Road, Darlington, never recovered consciousness and her life support machine was switched off two days later.

Recording an open verdict at an inquest into her death, Coroner Andrew Tweddle concluded it was unlikely that any of the procedures in place had a significant impact on events that night.

Describing Samantha's life as troubled and turbulent, he said it was clear Samantha was "predictably unpredictable".

He said Samantha had improved in the months before her death, partly due to co- operation between Stockton Borough Council social worker Mandy Welsh, who was involved in her care, Samantha and her mother, Sharon Harding. He was satisfied no one else was involved in Samantha's death, but could not be certain she intended to kill herself.

However, he said the case showed that some procedures at Darlington Memorial Hospital may benefit from review.

He said the fact staff from different departments did not know where their responsibilities began and ended troubled him, and he was concerned about a lack of training for self-harm risk assessment.

He also criticised the passing of information between staff, and said it would be helpful to review the Social Services' emergency duty team.

A spokesman for the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals Trust said officials had been working with other agencies involved to discover if lessons could be learned.

He said: "We carried out our own detailed investigation in 2004, and have implemented an action plan, which includes training in self-harm assessment for staff in accident and emergency."

Ann Baxter, Stockton council's director of children, education and social care, said officials would look at the verdict to see if systems could be improved.

She said: "Our sympathies go to Samantha's family at this time. The comments made about the emergency duty team will be discussed with all the local authorities in the Tees Valley to look at future provisions."

A statement issued on behalf of the family said Samantha had not wanted to die that night.

It read: "We miss Samantha very much. She had so much to live for and was taken from us too early. All the family loved her and wanted her.

"We hope lessons will be learnt and no other child will die in this way."