The family of a 16-year-old girl who died on hospital grounds has been left 'devastated' after an inquest found she was failed by multiple agencies. Ellame Ford-Dunn took her own life in March 2022 after absconding from the Bluefin paediatric ward at Worthing Hospital, where she was being treated as a mental health inpatient.
The inquest heard that Ellame had attempted to abscond 'multiple times' during her stay on the ward, which was not a specialist mental health facility. She had been placed there due to a shortage of available mental health beds. The jury concluded that it was inappropriate for her to be detained on a paediatric ward and that risk assessments were inadequate and inconsistently applied.
When Ellame absconded on March 20, staff did not immediately follow her, and it took 59 minutes for police to locate her. The jury found that the lack of security provision on the ward contributed to her death. They also cited 'poor co-ordination, communication and accountability' among multiple agencies, including Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
Ellame's mother, Nancy Ford-Dunn, expressed her grief, saying: 'I can't brush her hair and paint her nails and wash her clothes... all we've got left is this fight to make sure that everyone understands how badly she was failed.' Her father, Ken Ford-Dunn, added: 'I've got so much anger towards the services that failed her.'
In November 2023, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust was fined £200,000 after admitting to failing to provide safe care. The trust said it has 'fundamentally improved' its care since Ellame's death. The area coroner has instructed NHS England to produce a prevention of future deaths report, noting that several young people remain detained on acute paediatric wards while awaiting specialist mental health beds.
