Mental Health Trust Faces Neglect Claims After Deaths

Families who have lost loved ones in the care of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) are speaking out, describing the outcomes of inquests as predictable. This sentiment follows a coroner's finding of "neglect" in the death of Amy Chapman, who died on March 27, 2025, while a patient at the Haven Unit in Millview Hospital, Brighton. Chapman, a mother-of-one, was deemed at high risk of suicide but was allowed out unaccompanied twice, ultimately taking her own life on the second occasion.

The coroner highlighted an "absence of basic care" during Chapman's most vulnerable period. SPFT's chief nursing officer, Mandy Stevens, acknowledged the concerns and the trust's need to "more consistently" listen to individuals and avoid defensiveness. However, members of the SPFT Bereaved Families Unite group, like Shelagh Sheldrick, whose child Matty Sheldrick died in 2022, expressed a lack of personal reassurance that changes have been implemented. Matty's death was linked to a lack of psychiatric beds and prolonged emergency department stays.

Relatives of Morgan Bletchley, who died in 2023 at Meadowfield Hospital, Worthing, are also seeking accountability and a "true understanding of how broken the culture of healing is at this trust." They report consistently being "batted away and gas-lit." Chapman's family echoed these sentiments, believing their relative's death was "entirely preventable."