Ongoing tribunal over 2013 death of teenage patient after failings by psychiatrist

August 8, 2017

Dr Valerie Murphy was the lead clinician in charge of the care of a teenager, Connor Sparrowhawk, 18, who had an epileptic seizure while in the bath at Slade House, Oxfordshire, in July 2013. Slade House is an assessment and treatment unit for the National Health Service (NHS), the British public health system. In a tribunal hearing, she admitted to 28 failings that contributed to the death of the teenager, who had learning disabilities. An independent review had found that the NHS unit “lacked clinical leadership” by Murphy and that Connor’s care had “failed significantly.” The tribunal will consider whether Murphy failed to carry out any risk assessments on Connor when he was admitted to Slade House on 19 March 2013. Murphy denies that allegation.

SOURCE: Josh Halliday, "Connor Sparrowhawk death: NHS clinician admits string of failings," The Guardian (U.S. edition), 7 Aug 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/07/connor-sparrowhawk-death-nhs-clinician-dr-valerie-murphy-admits-failings