Lousia Ovington independent investigation report ... - NHS North East

CHAPTER 2 – EVALUATION OF THE HEALTH CARE AND TREATMENT OF
LOUISA OVINGTON
72
When it was decided that Louisa Ovington should be transferred from the Tony White
Unit, she was assessed by a forensic psychologist and a nurse consultant from the
Newcastle forensic adolescent psychiatry service, who concluded that a full assessment
for psychopathy would be appropriate.
St Nicholas’ Hospital
Louisa Ovington underwent a psychological assessment when she moved to St
Nicholas’ Hospital, Newcastle. This process consisted of clinical interview, completion
of psychometric inventories relating to personality and interpersonal behaviour and an
interview with Louisa Ovington’s great aunt and uncle to get a corroborative history.
She scored high on the borderline personality disorder scale. Her results fell below
the cut off score for psychopathic personality disorder, but a number of features of
this disorder were noted. Her responses to the aggressiveness scales highlighted an
individual with a quick temper prone to explosive, potentially physically aggressive,
outbursts.
Louisa Ovington denied her difficulties (for example, when she attended anger
management sessions, she stated that they were a waste of time and that she did not
have a problem with managing anger) and she refused to discuss some aspects of her
life, such as the murder of her mother. The psychologists recommended further work
on dealing with stress and problematic emotions and targeted relapse prevention
work. This was reiterated by Consultant 10 from Rampton (who was asked to give an
opinion regarding further management). He commented that there was “no evidence
that anyone had worked meaningfully with her about the significance of what had
happened to her developing perceptions and values to do with important aspects of
her life to do with trust and relationships”. Amongst other recommendations, he
suggested exploratory psychotherapy.
The panel was told by Psychologist 1 that whilst at times Louisa Ovington made it
quite clear that she wasn’t interested in talking in detail with staff, at other times she
was more engaging. Some issues remained essentially “off her agenda”, including
the murder of her mother, but it was the impression of the staff that over time it
became easier for her to engage in this process. They felt that Louisa Ovington needed
to be treated in a contained and consistent environment where the staff would
have the opportunity to build up over a significant period of time, possibly eighteen
months, the kind of relationship that might make therapeutic change possible.
Unfortunately, however, as the clinical team did not regard their services as
appropriate for Louisa Ovington, they arranged for her transfer to Kneesworth House.