Lauren Bridges

Lauren Bridges was a young woman from Bournemouth. Public accounts from her family describe her as loved, joyful and ambitious. This record does not reduce her to a ward, a diagnosis, a placement or a death.

Lauren’s case matters because the public record links her deterioration to distance from home, prolonged PICU placement and missed opportunities to bring her closer to her family and home area.

Lauren was detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. She was moved through out of area placements, including The Priory, Dorking, about 100 miles from Bournemouth, and later Pankhurst Ward PICU at Priory Cheadle, about 260 miles from home.

The Coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths reports state that the prolonged stay in a PICU placement at Priory Cheadle led to iatrogenic deterioration and was prolonged by delayed discharge.

The jury conclusion recorded that Lauren ended her life by ligature, that the conclusion was misadventure, and that Lauren did not intend to commit suicide. The medical cause of death was recorded in the PFD material as hypoxic brain injury, cardiac arrest and hanging injury.

Lauren’s mental health deteriorated in mid 2021 and it was determined that she needed transfer to a psychiatric intensive care unit to keep her safe. On 23 July 2021 she was transferred to Priory Cheadle as an out of area patient, far from home.

The Prevention of Future Deaths material records that missed opportunities to move Lauren closer to home, when acute and PICU beds were available during significant periods between July 2021 and February 2022, contributed to increased incidents and her death.

Lauren was found unresponsive in February 2022 and died two days later. Public reporting records the family’s position that being sent hundreds of miles away does not work for people who need family contact and local support.

The coroner identified matters of concern around delayed repatriation, documentation, communication and the failure to recognise the exceptional effects of Lauren being placed far from home.

The record names both distance and delay. It is not only a clinical record. It is a record about geography, family contact, institutional communication and whether systems treat out of area placements as temporary crisis measures or as places where people become stuck.

The PFD reports were issued because the coroner considered there was a risk that future deaths would occur unless action was taken.

Lauren was an inpatient detained under section 3

Lauren had been detained as an inpatient under the Mental Health Act from March 2020.

Dorking placement

Lauren was admitted to a rehabilitation unit at The Priory, Dorking, more than 100 miles from Bournemouth.

Transfer to Priory Cheadle

Lauren was transferred to Pankhurst Ward PICU at Priory Cheadle, about 260 miles from home.

Lauren died after being found unresponsive

Lauren was found unresponsive and died two days later in hospital.

Inquest conclusion and prevention reports

The inquest concluded in September 2023 and Prevention of Future Deaths reports were published later that year.