Essex woman took own life amid stress of looking after poorly husband
The County Council has been criticised for not supporting the 75 year old
Essex County Council has been criticised for failing to properly care for a 75-year-old woman who took her own life while struggling to care for her elderly husband.
Linda Sitch died on November 11, 2023, during a downturn in her mental health sparked by her husband’s own ongoing mental and physical health problems.
Essex coroner Sean Horstead said in a Prevention of Future Deaths report that adult social care at Essex County Council had failed to respond appropriately to three separate requests for help from Mrs Sitch and her family.
Essex’s adult social care services admitted these mistakes were caused by “human error” at the inquest into Mrs Sitch’s death.
Mr Sitch had been living with significant physical and mental health challenges for over a year, with his wife acting as his primary carer.
A future deaths report said the impact of her husband’s needs “deeply affected” Mrs Sitch, to the extent that she attempted to take her own life on three occasions in October 2022.
This led to her admission as a voluntary in-patient at a mental health facility under the care of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), where she received a diagnosis of an ‘Adjustment Disorder’.
She was discharged to the care of the community mental health team in February 2023 and remained largely stable until the late summer of 2023.
Her husband, having himself been detained under the provisions of the Mental Health Act was discharged back home in June 2023.
On September 29, 2023, Mr Sitch’s EPUT care coordinator raised an Adult Safeguarding (ASG) concern with Essex County Council’s adult social care regarding a potential unintentional maladministration of his medication.
In October 2023, efforts were made by Mrs Sitch’s daughter to escalate the family’s serious concerns regarding her mental health, reiterating that Mrs Sitch had attempted suicide the previous year and expressing concerns that she was exceptionally stressed and needed a break.
A statement from the coroner said: “As a consequence of (admitted) human error, this information was not acted upon. Had it been reviewed (…), there would have been immediate action, within 24 to 48 hours. By the time of her death, no further action had been taken by adult social care.”
On November 7, Mrs Sitch’s husband was admitted to hospital for a medical issue. He was due to be discharged the following week. Before his discharge home, Mrs Sitch took her own life.
A spokesperson for Essex County Council said: “Our thoughts are with Linda’s family and friends. We take this report seriously and will be responding in full to HM Coroner.”