Video shows Blackpool nurses vaping and scrolling on phones while man prepared to take his own life
CCTV footage shows nurses vaping, scrolling on their phones, and plaiting each other's hair.
CCTV footage has been released showing NHS nurses neglecting a young man as he prepared to take his own life.
The footage, which has been released as part of an inquest, shows Blackpool nurses vaping, scrolling on their phones, and plaiting each others hair while 20-year-old Bren McFarlane was planning his suicide.
In October, a jury ruled that Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust had neglected 20-year-old Bren McFarlane.
Blackpool's Senior Coroner Alan Wilson has now released some of the footage shown at the inquest in order to illustrate the level of neglect Bren suffered.
Bren had waited three weeks for a bed on a mental health unit to become available after a psychiatrist had requested an urgent placement at a 'place of safety' in October 2022.
The 20-year-old, who had a history of self-harm and suicide attempts, was assessed by the psychiatrist at his home in Accrington a doctor deemed he was a "risk to himself".
When a bed became available, on 24 October 2022, Bren was admitted to The Harbour in Blackpool; a 154 bed mental health hospital which provides care and treatment for adults who cannot be safely treated at home.
Less than 24 hours later Bren had taken his own life.
Jurors heard that although Bren's personal belongings had been recorded, on his admission to The Harbour, he had managed to keep an item which was not logged.
For a period of 20 minutes, during which no observations of Bren were made, he used this item to create another which he later used in his en-suite bathroom to take his own life.
The CCTV footage shows over a one-hour period, between 9.30am and 10.29am when Bren was found unresponsive, staff spent two minutes and 54 seconds observing him.
The footage shows one nurse sat on a desk and scrolling through her phone while another nurse spends several minutes doing her colleague's hair.
At 10.16am, Bren went into his bathroom and was found there, unresponsive, at 10.29am.
He was resuscitated and taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital but treatment was withdrawn when doctors discovered he had suffered a brain stem death due to a lack of oxygen.
Bren, who died on 29 October, was posthumously awarded the Order of St John which honours donors and their families who donate their organs to save and improve the lives of others.
In the trial, the jury returned a conclusion of misadventure.
They said: "We say that on the balance of probabilities the care delivery issues more than minimally, trivially or negligibly caused or contributed to the death of Bren."
In their conclusions, jurors also highlighted the various failings which gave Bren the opportunity to take his own life.
These included the jury highlighting how "the staff were distracted from their duties and were not exhibiting professional standards of behaviour".
Following Bren's death the Trust says identified "failings in the delivery of our care" and had found a number of colleagues whose conduct "fell below the professional standards" expected.
Chris Oliver, Chief Executive for Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust said: “I extend my personal condolences on behalf of the Trust to Bren’s family for their loss and our thoughts remain with his family and friends.
"Following Bren’s death, we undertook a comprehensive investigation, which identified failings in the delivery of our care, including environmental and estate issues.
"The failings also included the conduct of a number of colleagues which fell below the professional standards that we expect and that the majority of our colleagues display every day.
“We updated HM Coroner and the family at Bren’s inquest on the actions that we have taken following our investigation, which has included taking appropriate action relating to staff conduct.
"I wish to offer my unreserved apologies to Bren’s family on behalf of Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust."