Emily Whittaker was not given ‘additional assessment, treatment and care’ after she was discharged from a mental health ward, known as ‘the unit’, in January 2024 and another time when her GP referred her to a community based mental health service three months before she passed away.
he court heard how after Emily was discharged from ‘the Unit’, where she only spoke to staff via text, she stayed with her mother in Lancashire and her case was referred to the home based mental health team of the Blackpool area.
However, the coroner told the court that the team ‘reviewed matters and they discharged Ms Whittaker from their care on 23rd January 2024 without having had any direct contact with her.’
Coroner Peter Sigee told the court that in April, her GP became ‘increasingly concerned about Emily’s mental health’ and made ‘urgent referrals’ to the early intervention team and community mental health team, but the referrals were rejected with no further assessment by health officials.
Reacting to the coroner’s conclusion, Julie, Emily’s mother said: “I think it was borderline neglect. To try and get her help was so, so difficult. Every door you knocked on they just shut it in your face, you were being bounced around constantly.
“There was always a referral, everything was a referral. To try and get her sectioned I had to fight, really, really fight.
“It was like they were dismissing me, the person closest to her. It’s soul destroying, absolutely soul destroying.”
Source: Manchester Evening News, 30th October 2025
