A hospital trust has been fined more than £500,000 and a ward manager given a suspended prison sentence after the death of 22-year-old Alice Figueiredo, who took her own life while under the care of Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford.
Ms Figueiredo died after using bin bags from a shared toilet on the Hepworth Ward, despite repeated warnings from her family and a history of similar self-harm attempts. North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT), which runs the hospital, and ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa, 53, were convicted in June of health and safety offences.
At the Old Bailey, NELFT was fined £565,000 and ordered to pay £200,000 in costs. Aninakwa received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and must complete 300 hours of unpaid community service.
Judge Richard Marks KC described Ms Figueiredo as a “beautiful vibrant young woman” who was “hugely talented” with an “extremely attractive personality”. He said her death was “a terrible tragedy” that resulted from a “complete failure to adequately assess and manage the risk” of keeping bin bags in an unlocked toilet cubicle.
The court heard that the trust had already recognised the dangers posed by plastic bags and removed them from patients’ bedrooms. However, they remained accessible in communal areas, including the shared toilet used by Ms Figueiredo.
Judge Marks told Aninakwa that he had failed to act on the “major concerns” raised by Alice’s mother, which should have “rung major alarm bells”. He added: “Whilst you regret Alice’s death, you have no real insight into what you did wrong. I find the fact you clearly remain in a state of denial very troubling.”
Aninakwa, who continues to work for NELFT, has said he plans to appeal his conviction.
Speaking after the sentencing, Ms Figueiredo’s mother, Jane Figueiredo, said her daughter’s death was “preventable” and that the family had been treated with “dismissive contempt” by hospital staff. In a statement, she said: “Such attitudes go against everything patient care stands for in our NHS.”
She described her daughter as “a uniquely beautiful, brave, affectionate, generous, kind, colourful, creative and luminous spirit” and said the loss had left the family “immeasurably” affected.
Chief executive of NELFT, Paul Calaminus, said he had written to the Figueiredo family to offer a personal apology. “We are deeply sorry, both for Alice’s untimely death and for everything that her family and friends have had to endure over the last decade,” he said. He added that the trust had carried out “a huge amount of work” to improve patient safety but warned that the fine could affect service funding.
Alice Figueiredo had been admitted to the Hepworth Ward in 2012 with diagnoses including an eating disorder and bipolar affective disorder. Despite at least 10 previous incidents of self-harm involving plastic items, bin bags were not removed from communal toilets.
An investigation into her death began in 2016, but charges were not brought until 2023. NELFT was cleared of corporate manslaughter, while Aninakwa was acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter.
