A mother has vowed she will "never forgive" two medical centres after an inquest found inadequate testing "possibly contributed" to her 12-year-old daughter's death. Mia Lucas died on January 29, 2024, at the Becton Centre mental health unit, suffering from undiagnosed autoimmune encephalitis that caused acute psychosis. Her mother, Chloe Hayes, has criticised both Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham and the Becton Centre for failing her daughter in her time of need.
The nine-day inquest revealed that doctors at Queen's Medical Centre ruled out a physical cause for Mia's psychosis after blood tests and an MRI scan came back negative. However, they decided against further testing on brain wave function and spinal fluid through a lumbar puncture. The jury of five women and four men found this failure to undertake a lumbar puncture "possibly contributed to Mia's death."
Mia began exhibiting extreme behaviour over Christmas 2023, including hearing voices and attacking her mother. She was taken by ambulance to Queen's Medical Centre on New Year's Eve and sectioned under the Mental Health Act. On January 9, she was transferred to the Becton Centre, part of Sheffield Children's Hospital, where she died three weeks later.
The diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis only emerged during the inquest after new post-mortem test results were revealed by a pathologist. The condition, described as very rare, causes swelling of the brain.
Hayes said in a statement after the inquest: «It has been devastating to listen to how, when she needed specialist healthcare, for the first time in her life, she was so badly let down.» She added: «She was let down at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, who wrongly decided there was no underlying physical cause of her psychosis, and failed to carry out appropriate testing.»
The mother believes her daughter was dismissed quickly. «I believe they simply dismissed her and looked to pass her onto mental health services as quickly as possible, which led to her transfer to the Becton centre,» Hayes said.
Failure to protect from self-harm
The inquest jury also identified a failure at the Becton Centre to adequately respond to Mia's risk of self-harm. Hayes criticised the facility as «completely unsuitable» for her daughter.
«Her mental health spiralled deeper out of control there, as she was not being treated for her condition, and the many failings and lack of care meant sadly she wasn't properly protected from harming herself,» she said.
Hayes concluded: «My beautiful little girl has lost her life and I will never forgive the Queen's Medical Centre or the Becton Centre for failing her.»
Hospital apologises and pledges changes
Dr Manjeet Shehmar, Medical Director at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, issued an apology following the inquest. «We accept the coroner's outcome in court today and apologise to Mia's family for not identifying autoimmune encephalitis while she was in our care,» he said.
Shehmar acknowledged that while the condition is incredibly rare and initial tests were negative, «we recognise that further testing may have had an impact on her future, for which we are truly sorry.»
The hospital has pledged concrete changes. «In all future cases of suspected possible autoimmune encephalitis a lumbar puncture will be performed, even in cases of atypical presentation like Mia's,» Shehmar said. The trust will also strengthen staff training and review published evidence on acute psychotic episodes in children to develop new clinical guidelines.
Hayes expressed her conviction that her daughter never intended to take her own life. «I have never believed for a moment that Mia ever wanted to take her own life. She was always a happy, healthy child and had so much to live for,» she said.
The mother wants Mia remembered for who she was before her illness: «for the other 12 years, she was a beautiful soul who loved life and loved her family, and that's how we want her to be remembered».
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
