Teenage mother’s mental health care ‘totally inadequate’

The partner of an autistic woman who died while an inpatient at a mental health hospital has told an inquest her care was “totally inadequate” and her death could have been prevented.

Morgan Rose Betchley was 19 when she died on a ward at Meadowfield Hospital in Worthing in March last year. She was the mother of a one-year-old boy.

Her own mother told the inquest Miss Betchley had been “passed from pillar to post” in the final weeks of her life and had been left feeling “completely hopeless”.

The inquest in Horsham will examine the treatment and care Miss Betchley received in the six weeks before her death. It is expected to last for 10 days.

The inquest heard Miss Betchley had struggled with her mental health since the age of 12 and had a catalogue of incidents of self-harm.

But her family said she had been “settled and stable” since having her son and had been an “attentive and loving” mother.

Miss Betchley and her partner Dominic Goddard had been living together with their son in Chichester and she was studying architecture at Chichester College.

After Miss Betchley became increasingly unwell again in January 2023, she was admitted to Meadowfield Hospital three times.

Mr Goddard, who works as a carer for people with dementia, had been in a relationship with Miss Betchley for nearly four years and they had a son together in March 2021.

“It shocked me that this is how mentally ill people are looked after,” he said.

He said he felt communication from staff had been poor, he had not been involved in her care and staff had seemed “pretty annoyed” and “like everything was a chore”.

Despite their concerns about her care, Miss Betchley’s family had disagreed with each plan to discharge her from hospital.

In-between admissions she had attended accident and emergency several times, was admitted to Woodlands acute care unit in Hastings and spent 24 hours in a police cell after being arrested, the hearing was told.

Miss Betchley’s mother, Tanya Betchley, told the inquest the family had felt “railroaded” into plans for another discharge because it was “as if no one wanted to help her”.

Mr Goddard described the plan for a crisis team to assess her for discharge on 9 March as “completely ridiculous and unsafe”.

He added: “I was really worried about her coming home in terms of what she might to do herself but I felt like I had no power at all.”

Miss Betchley was found dead in a corridor at Meadowfield Hospital in the early hours of 9 March 2023.

“I don’t think she intended to take her life, I think this was another cry for help,” said Mr Goddard.

“I never thought Morgan could actually do anything serious while on a psychiatric ward as we thought it was a safe space.”

The hearing continues.