Mental hospital fails to improve

Fiona Gale was 29 when she took her own life

A woman whose daughter took her life after being allowed to leave a psychiatric hospital has spoken out after a report found no improvement.

Fiona Gail was allowed to leave Green Lane Psychiatric Hospital in Devizes, Wiltshire, in 2005, three hours before throwing herself under a train.

On Wednesday a report by the Healthcare Commission branded the hospital the second worst in England.

"I would have hoped they would have learned their lessons," Mrs Gail said.

"It is to my horror to discover that it's probably worse now than it was then.

"Our mental health authority has scored the worst in the South West. They've only got a weak rating."

'Top league'

But Sally Thomson, the newly-appointed Nursing Director at Green Lane Psychiatric Hospital, said things were improving.

"Our reaction today is we're sorry the report is out but we've done a huge amount of work to turn around with the services that comprise just 15% of the trust," she said.

"So our reaction now is that if we came in now and had the same test again we would be very confident that we would be in the top league."

The watchdog used performance data and patient and staff surveys to judge the trust on four key criteria - the standard of care, the involvement of patients and carers, safety and the patient journey, which looks at how well patients are moved through the system.

Miss Gale, who was 29 when she died, had a promising career as a show jumper ahead of her but was crippled by chronic asthma.

During her 20s she developed a personality disorder which led to episodes of self harm and threats to commit suicide.

On the night she died she was discharged from Green Lane Hospital, had a meal with her mother, and then jumped in front of a high-speed train near her home in Sherston.