Manslaughter trial ward manager 'soft and gentle'

A ward manager who is accused of being responsible for the death of a young woman who took her own life had a "soft and gentle approach" with patients and staff, a nurse who worked with him has said.

Alice Figueiredo, 22, was being treated on the Hepworth Ward at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, east London, where she died in July 2015.

Benjamin Aninakwa, who was in charge of Hepworth Ward at the time of Ms Figueiredo's death, denies manslaughter by gross negligence.

The 55-year-old is on trial at the Old Bailey alongside the North East London NHS Foundation Trust, which denies corporate manslaughter.

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Karen Tynan, a mental health nurse who worked on the Hepworth Ward during Ms Figueiredo's admission, told the jury she became Ms Figueiredo's "named nurse" in March 2015, meaning she was responsible for planning her care.

"Alice was an intelligent, bright girl," she said. "I developed quite a good relationship with her, I was very fond of her and would spend a lot of time talking with her about her care plan."

Ms Tynan was asked about Ms Figueiredo's relationship with other staff members on the ward.

"Alice was quite set in who she liked and didn't like, so she worked better with some more than others," Ms Tynan said.

"There were some staff that Alice didn't get on well with. Benjamin was one of them.

"She didn't like him for some reason, and if she didn't like someone she would make it difficult for them to work with her."

When asked if she had any concerns about Mr Aninakwa's treatment of Ms Figueiredo's, Ms Tynan said she had none.

"He treated her the same as everyone else. He had a gentle approach and was always softly spoken," she told the court.

Jurors have previously heard that when Ms Figueiredo was a patient at the hospital between February and July 2015 she had tried to harm herself with plastic bags on 18 occasions.

Despite this, they were not removed from the Hepworth Ward.

On 7 July 2015, Ms Figueiredo accessed the communal toilet on the ward and used a bin liner to end her life.

On Tuesday, the jury was shown notes recorded by staff in June 2015, the month before Ms Figueiredo died, stating that staff should not allow plastic bags to be used because of her vulnerability.

Ms Tynan told the court that Mr Aninakwa had made attempts to get plastic bags removed from the ward.

"There was an incident where Alice tried to take or grab a bag, so Benjamin looked at what we could do and made a decision that we couldn't have any plastic bags on the ward at all," she said.

The trial continues.

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