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The NHS Health Ombudsman has savaged GPs, hospitals and specialist in eating disorders who failed to care for a young student who died of anorexia, in a report published today which illustrated “widespread problems with eating disorders services in the NHS”.

Averil Hart was first diagnosed with the eating disorder, anorexia, at 17 when she was doing her A-levels. She spent almost a year as an inpatient at a specialist eating disorders unit in Cambridge from 2011 to 2012 but was discharged in August 2012 so she could start University studies a month later.

However, the NHS Ombudsman’s investigation revealed that, “There were multiple serious departures from the standards of care expected that meant that the critical nature of Averil’s condition was not recognised and treatment was not implemented properly as it could and should have been”. There were multiple opportunities between August and December 2012 to identify what was happening to Averil, to intervene to remedy the situation at that time, and therefore to prevent the subsequent course of events that led to the final emergency admission to hospital which culminated in her untimely death at the age of 19 in December 2012.

The report concluded that the failings by the UEA GP practice, and the acute NHS trusts in Norwich and Cambridge which provided treatment, as well as the Norwich eating disorders service, were so serious that each was guilty of “service failure”.

A specialist clinical negligence solicitor with Sydney Mitchell Solicitors, said,

This is a tragic case which highlights what can go wrong when NHS services do not carry out the specialist treatment that is required in cases involving patients’ suffering from eating disorders. The fact that this patient’s death was completely preventable is a very troubling revelation.

The NHS bodies should be brought to account for their failings in this case, and the NHS generally should ensure that lessons are learned from this tragedy to ensure that vulnerable patients are not put at risk in the future.

If you have concerns about the medical treatment which you have received from a hospital or GP and wish to speak with one of our specialist clinical negligence solicitors, please a member of the PI team on 0808 166 8827.

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