Hucknall: Inquest hears CCTV footage does not match observation records on day mental health patient died

Louise Furlong, who was a resident Heathcotes Moorgreen care home in Hucknall when she was not in hospital, died after being found with a ligature around her neck in her bathroom at Highbury Hospital, at 7.09pm on September 11, 2022.

Sylwia Quaye-Mensah, who was responsible for her observations in the hour before she was found unconscious, pleaded guilty to wilful neglect at Nottingham Crown Court on November 18, 2025.

The 42-year-old, of Monsall Avenue, Ilkeston, is expected to be sentenced on March 2, but was called as a witness to the inquest at Nottingham Coroner’s Court on February 11.

The inquest heard how Ms Quaye-Mensah was tasked with all observations on the Rowan 2 ward, where Ms Furlong was based, between 6pm and 7pm on the day in question.

Ms Furlong’s observations were meant to take place every 10 minutes.

At 6.05pm, an entry on the observation log, made by staff on a computer tablet, said that Louise was “in her bedroom, co-operative and calm”, the inquest heard.

But CCTV footage from 6.05pm showed the tablet in the hands of Ms Quaye-Mensah, who was sitting on a communal sofa.

The inquest heard from the duty ward manager on September 11 that the tablet was the only tablet on the ward at the time, and is the only method by which staff logged observations on the Rowan 2 ward.

Asked whether all this was correct by coroner Alexandra Pountney, Ms Quaye-Mensah said she would not answer – something she was legally allowed to do according to inquest laws, which state that a witness need not answer any question that tends to incriminate them.

Another entry in the observation log, at 6.27pm, notes that Louise was again in her bedroom, co-operative and calm.

CCTV from 6.27pm shows Ms Quaye-Mensah with the tablet sitting on the communal sofa, while Louise was not in the area and Ms Quaye-Mensah was not in Louise’s bedroom.

Again, Ms Quaye-Mensah chose not to answer any questions in relation to this log.

Further logs were made at 6.41pm, 6.48pm, 6.55pm and 7.01pm to say that Louise was in her room, asleep and breathing.

At all of these times, Ms Quaye-Mensah was seen on CCTV with the tablet, sitting on the communal sofa.

CCTV also showed her at some time in the final 35 minutes of the hour walking past Louise’s room in the corridor and not checking the window.

Ms Quaye-Mensah, who spoke with the help of a Polish interpreter, answered some questions from the coroner and barrister at the inquest.

She confirmed that she was employed with the Athona job agency, which is how she had ended up in her position at Highbury Hospital.

She confirmed that, on the morning of September 11, she had been sent from Highbury to Queen’s Medical Centre for work-related purposes and that she had a conversation with a nurse upon her return.

But she said she did not remember being told that Ms Furlong had had an unsettled morning, nor that she was at risk of ligature.

She also denied having received an induction on either Rowan 2 ward, where Ms Furlong was, nor on Redwood 1 ward, which the clinical team leader at Highbury Hospital at the time said was where an induction had happened.

Ms Quaye-Mensah said she had only been shown where the toilet and the emergency exit were on the Cherry ward, where she had completed her first shift at the hospital.

She also denied having ever seen a patient observation policy document, said to be the one in use at the hospital in September 2022.

The inquest continues.