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

CHAPTER 3 – OUTLINE OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND PERSONALITY DISORDER
the Kneesworth House team stated that in their opinion Louisa Ovington was not
at that time suffering from a mental illness. In consequence, the clinical team that
became responsible for her care following her discharge from Kneesworth House was
left uncertain as to her diagnosis: despite her evident serious mental health issues,
Louisa Ovington had no formal diagnosis of any mental disorder.
Whilst Louisa Ovington was not given a formal label of personality disorder, a review
of her life history, both before and after her admission to medium secure hospitals,
shows that she fitted the profile of someone with this type of problem. Thus, she
presented immense challenges to the services around her. She was in increasing
contact with mental health, social services, A&E, GPs and the criminal justice system.
She abused drugs and alcohol; she had interpersonal problems that included violence;
she experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression and she had brief psychotic
episodes.
COMMENT
It is extremely difficult to work with people that present with these types of problems.
The Department of Health document of 2003, “Personality disorder – No longer a
diagnosis of exclusion” describes the marginalised service that many people with
personality disorders received at that time. It talks of them being treated through
A&E and through inappropriate admissions to inpatient psychiatric wards. It describes
how these people were on the caseloads of community team staff who were likely
to prioritise the needs of other clients over them and who might lack the skills to
work with them. It stated that many clinicians and mental health practitioners were
reluctant to work with people with personality disorder because they believed that
they did not have the skills, training or resources to provide an adequate service and
because they believed there was nothing that mental health services could offer.
Unfortunately, this description of services appears to have been an all too accurate
depiction of some of the mental health services in the Hartlepool area that were
involved with Louisa Ovington between 2000 and 2005.
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