THE sister of an ex-air stewardess who killed herself after wandering off from a psychiatric ward hit out today at hospital failures.
Anne Marie Dooher once owned a luxury apartment complete with its own swimming pool in Edinburgh, where she spent much of her adult life.
She had battled depression for 20 years and by the time of her death last year Miss Dooher, 52, had been sect
ioned under the Mental Health Act after two previous suicide attempts.
She had fallen into "deep despond" after the death of her mother three weeks before, and was detained under a compulsory treatment order at Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary, assessed as being "of high risk of self-harm".
She was only supposed to be allowed off her ward for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time but on June 25 she left before 11am and never returned.
A fatal accident inquiry at Falkirk Sheriff Court today heard nurses waited three hours before beginning to look for her and six hours before calling in police.
PC Alison Robson, who spoke to hospital staff, said: "The staff nurse said she thought she'd be in one of the local pubs, so we went straight to look there."
In fact she had returned to her home in Falkirk and killed herself with an overdose of pills.
The inquiry was heard it was not until 1.20am that officers found her dead on her bed.
PC Robson said police had been assured that her absence from the ward was of "no immediate concern" and that she was no risk to herself or others.
An internal health board investigation showed "clear failings in communication between staff".
Miss Dooher's sister Rosemary Dean said: "Anne Marie went from being a beautiful, successful career woman with her own house, job and a wide circle of friends to being ill, vulnerable and needy. That's what her illness did to her.
"Then hospital let her down when she was at her most vulnerable.
"Our mum Rita had died three weeks previously and she had been Anne Marie's main support and refuge.
"Mum would always listen to Anne Marie, even if it was paranoid thoughts.
"When she died we were all grieving, but it was catastrophic for Anne Marie and she was at very high risk of suicide.
"We thought she was in a place of safety and hoped this would give her time and support to cope with this event before she moved on to supported accommodation.
"We lost our mum and sister in the space of three weeks and this has been devastating."
Mrs Dean, 45, an occupational therapy team manager, added: "Before she became ill, Anne Marie had everything going for her.
"She worked full-time, and was one of the first people in Edinburgh to live in a block of luxury flats – in Lothian Road – with a private swimming pool in the basement.
"She let out other flats and flew long-haul for British Airways all over the world.
"She later worked in careers, Customs and Excise, and the civil service.
"She was the oldest of the four of us, and we all admired and looked up to her.
"Anne Marie was a fantastic older sister to us – she was always warm and caring.
"We would go over to her luxury apartment, and we always looked forward to our frequent visits to our big sister.
"It was very hard to watch her deterioration. She lost her social network because her friends couldn't cope with her illness.
"She was 52 when she died and had been ill for over 20 years.
Mrs Dean said that Forth Valley Health Board had already brought in improvements to their procedures, and had involved the family in their decision-making.
She said: "At this inquiry we have learned just how shambolic the system was.
"As soon as she went off the ward something should have been done because she was a high suicide risk, but no-one took ownership of the situation on that day and the system fell apart.
"The health board is obviously trying to do something positive now."
The inquiry was adjourned for further medical evidence. Sheriff Craig Caldwell will give his findings in writing at a later date.
The full article contains 715 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
