Laura Willmott, 18, died from anorexia after a long battle with the eating disorder
Laura Willmott, 18, had battled anorexia nervosa for five years before she collapsed and died from a cardiac arrest after starving herself to barely five stones in weight.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2282322/Laura-Willmott-Anorexic-died-weighing-just-FIVE-STONE-doctors-let-control-treatment.html#ixzz2LeZ9f600
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She was admitted to hospital when her weight dropped so low she was unable to walk, but doctors discharged her after 11 days - deeming her 'physically fit' to return home.
Miss Willmott's parents have condemned the authorities that allowed her full control of her own treatment, which they could not contest, as the mental health system classed her as an 'adult'.
The inquest heard Laura's weight plummeted following discharge as she refused to follow a diet plan she had agreed with doctors before leaving the ward.
Flax Bourton Coroner's Court heard Laura collapsed at home just two weeks later and was readmitted to hospital, where she suffered a cardiac arrest that led to a fatal brain injury.
The inquest heard how Laura, of Redland, Bristol, was given autonomy on her treatment shortly before her 18th birthday in February 2011 - leaving her parents 'in the dark'.
In a statement read to the court, her devastated mother Vickie Townsend, said Laura was 'doomed' after gaining control over her treatment.
She said: 'I do not believe she was in a fit state to make decisions herself for any treatment.
'I really struggle to see how Laura was any different at 17 years and 364 days than she was at 18 years and one day.
'She was doomed from this point, she went down hill quite rapidly, she had dropped 13kg (2st) in nine months, she weighed just 45kg (7st).
'Laura became frailer and frailer and expressed a fear to me that she thought she was going to die.
'She would do whatever it took not to take in nutrition, her levels of deceit was breathtaking.
Laura collapsed and died from a cardiac arrest after starving herself to barely five stone
'Even as she deteriorated right in front of our eyes she was considered able to make decisions about her treatment.'
Laura began receiving treatment for anorexia in 2007 and reached a 'low but manageable weight' aged 17 thanks to regular professional help.
She transferred units when her regular doctor at the Child and Mental Health Unit (CAMHS) went on maternity leave in June 2010.
The new team decided that Laura should be classed as an adult as she was close to her 18th birthday and gave her autonomy to make medical decisions.
This meant her parents were no longer copied in on Laura's care - and were unaware she attended just three appointments before cancelling future treatment.
At the end of 2010, she had visited one nurse since the August.
Mrs Townsend added: 'Laura gave the CAMHs team the impression that their involvement was no longer necessary and she was discharged on January 18 2011, just weeks before her 18th birthday.
'By September 2011 she could barely walk. She looked thinner and her hair was thinning out.'
Laura was admitted to Frenchay Hospital, Bristol (pictured), in October 2011, after her weight dropped so low that she was unable to walk
Laura was admitted to Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, in October 2011, after her weight dropped so low that she was unable to walk.
Doctors recorded her Body Mass Index (BMI) at just 12.5 - well below the healthy level - and Laura was treated on a specialist ward for 11 to stabilise her.
She was discharged after 11 days, when doctors deemed her 'physically fit' and Laura promised to follow a diet of including nutrient drinks each day.
Mrs Townsend added: 'She had to be discharged when they were physically fit, whether or not they had regained the mental facility to make treatment decisions.
'I was deeply unhappy she had to be discharged and didn't feel she was any better than when she had started and was of no fit health to agree to stay.'
Dr Hugh Herzig, a consultant psychiatrist who worked with Laura in hospital, said he was reluctant to take all decision making powers away from her.
He said: 'I didn't know how sending her home would go but I felt it was an experiment, to use that word, that was quite an important step to take.
'The decision to take all the trust away from the patient is a very grave one.
When re-admitted to the hospital, she tricked nurses by soaking her nutrition drinks into tissue and later suffered a cardiac arrest and brain injury
'Laura's thinking and her emotions were coloured by her long-standing eating disorder but she could consider and believed the evidence that was in front of her.'
Laura's weight dropped at home and she was readmitted to Frenchay Hospital two weeks later, on November 23, with severe malnourishment and hypoglycaemia, weighing barely five stones.
She tricked nurses by soaking her nutrition drinks into tissue and suffered a cardiac arrest on December 12 - leading to a hypoxic brain injury - and passed away one week later.
Terence Moore, assistant deputy coroner for Avon, said he would be using his powers under Rule 43 to write to health services about his findings.
He said: 'I will write to the PCT to raise the issue as to whether the opportunity for re-feeding could take a patient beyond simple medical fitness to a state where they are more able to participate in decision making processes.
'I will also write to the AWP to ask if it is able that a summary is given to clinicians where mental health patients are put in their care of any thing that might help in their treatment."
Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Townsend described her daughter as 'wonderful' and 'a very talented and supremely caring human being'.
She said: 'Laura wanted to be a nurse and I am sure that she would say that if anything positive could come out of her experience it would be that where there might be deficits or policy failings in the care system for anorexia they should be attended to so that future sufferers might do better.
'I am not trying to accuse or blame anyone but it is clear the system of transition from adolescence to adult care at 18 is not working.
'We need to ensure the transitional period is seamless with the importance of providing safety for our young.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2282322/Laura-Willmott-Anorexic-died-weighing-just-FIVE-STONE-doctors-let-control-treatment.html#ixzz2LeZ9f600
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