The mother of a woman who died following failings at an eating disorder unit has told Sky News the mental health system is “not fit for purpose”.
Melissa Parrish attempted to take her own life in 2018 just four hours after being admitted to the unit.
She was left in a vegetative state and died three years later at the age of 27.
An inquest has concluded that failings by the NHS trust involved – headed up by NHS England’s lead on mental health – contributed to her death.
Melissa was admitted to the NHS unit following years of contact with mental health services.
That included admissions as a teenager to a unit run by The Huntercombe Group which her family said left her so traumatised that she was scarred for the rest of her life.
“She was destroyed as human being and she wouldn’t engage with any treatment because she was so scared of going back to hospital,” her mother Melanie Parrish told Sky News.
In 2009, when Melissa was 15, she had been admitted for an initial 12-week stay at the Huntercombe Hospital in Maidenhead.
In the end, she remained at the unit for 14 months.
Melissa and her mum. Pic: Family handout
“She got trapped,” Mrs Parrish said. “We saw our Melissa disappear.
“The hospital actually tried to enforce her not having contact with me because they felt that the relationship was unhelpful.
“She started self-harming, and then when they told her that she wouldn’t be coming home after 12 weeks, I think she just died. She stopped eating. She had to go onto a tube.
“She stopped trusting her family. She stopped trusting anyone and she became traumatised.”
Melissa was left in a vegetative state and died at the age of 27. Pic: Family handout
Mrs Parrish said they had to battle to remove her from the hospital.
“We tried to get her taken out and we literally could not get her removed.
“We felt that we as parents had been painted as the problem and so it wasn’t in Melissa’s best interest to come home.”
She said eventually the NHS clinical commission group that was paying for the treatment “started asking quite challenging questions like ‘she’s not getting better, she’s getting worse'” and they “in effect, helped us to break her out”.
‘Does nobody in this place care’
That Huntercombe unit has since closed following allegations of poor treatment exposed by Sky News.
Dozens of former patients who claim they suffered inhuman and degrading treatment at the facilities are now taking legal action.
Read more:
The shocking truth of life in a children’s mental health unit
Huntercombe investigation reveals decade of mistreatment
Melissa’s family say it was her experience at the Huntercombe Hospital that left her with a fear of being “locked up” and why she was so traumatised when she was admitted to the Vincent Square Eating Disorder Service aged 24 following a serious deterioration in her health.
“Melissa’s life ended because of what happened at Vincent Square, but actually this was always going to happen because of what took place then,” her mother said.
Melissa was 15 when she was first admitted to hospital. Pic: Family handout
“My view is that they [Huntercombe Hospital] made it impossible for her ever to be helped either by medical professionals or family.”
Within half an hour of her family leaving her at Vincent Square, Melissa was found unresponsive.
An inquest found that the ligature point in her room should have been removed by staff.
The chief executive of the Trust that runs Vincent Square is Claire Murdoch, the NHS England lead on mental health.
“I would ask her to have a look in a quiet moment at how staff in her area of responsibility acted that day and ask herself, ‘You seriously think you did a good job? Is that something you can be proud of?’,” Mrs Parrish told Sky News.
She said it was clear her daughter was highly distressed on admission.
“I actually shouted out in the corridor ‘does nobody in this place care?’,” she recalled.
“If it looks like somebody who is on the brink of doing whatever they can to hurt themselves, step in. Don’t respect their autonomy and let them kill themselves. Step in and prevent it.
“I just feel across so many levels that mental health treatment isn’t fit for purpose in this country in terms of the quality of it, the availability, the delay in getting help.”
Claire Murdoch, NHS national director for mental health, said: “Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the loved ones of Melissa Parrish.
“The NHS has repeatedly made clear that all services must provide safe, high-quality care and deliver on the commitments in their contracts, irrespective of whether they are NHS or independent sector-led.”
‘We are sorry’
The statement added: “But we know that there is further progress needed to ensure that everyone gets the support they need, and we have asked all mental health wards to implement new standards – developed with former patients and their families – to ensure care is therapeutic and close to home, while NHS England has delivered training to staff on the best psychological therapies to treat those with an eating disorder.”
A spokesperson from Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust said: “Melissa’s death was extremely sad and we send our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.
“We are sorry for any mistakes that were made and opportunities missed whilst Melissa was under NHS care.
“We have previously reached out to Melissa’s family to discuss what happened and how we can learn from it. Now the inquest has concluded we will follow up and offer to meet again.”
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Elli Investments Group, the previous owners of The Huntercombe Group, told Sky News in a statement: “Our thoughts are with Miss Parrish’s family.
“The hospital was owned and managed by The Huntercombe Group, and its specialist care services and its management team transferred to new owners in 2021.”
For Melissa’s parents, the hardest part during the three years she spent in a vegetative state was reaching the realisation that there was no hope.
“I think we’re probably not the only parents who hit the internet looking for miracles,” Mrs Parrish said.
“And we thought, you know, even if she’s got a degree of brain damage, we can live with that.
“You know, she’d be a different child, but she’ll still be our child. It just took a lot longer for the penny to drop.
“But we got there in the end that it was the right thing to do to let her go.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
