Daughters of Marion Munns Warn Southern Health Not To Miss Opportunity To Learn From Its Mistakes

The family of a woman who threw herself from a motorway bridge as they desperately waited for mental health workers, has urged troubled Southern Health not to miss this opportunity to learn from its mistakes.

Marion Munns, a retired nurse and super-fit 74-year-old, died on November 12 last year after suffering severe mental breakdown. She had fled the family home in Lordswood, Southampton, from an upstairs window, sparking a frantic search by the police.

Later that evening, the grandmother-of-three’s body was found on a carriageway of the M27 by police. Her loved ones identified her from a photograph of her sandal, found close to her body.

Her devastated family instructed expert medical negligence lawyers Irwin Mitchell to investigate what happened between the family’s first call to Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Community Mental Health Team and Marion’s body being discovered.

Recording a narrative verdict at the conclusion of four-day inquest held at Winchester Coroner’s Court, coroner Graeme Short acknowledged that there had been failings within the Trust regarding Marion’s care but that there had been significant policy changes since the tragedy.

Marion’s daughter Angela Mote, 55, is now calling on the Trust to learn from its mistakes in the hope that other vulnerable patients can avoid a similar fate.

She said: “The woman my family saw that night simply wasn’t my mum. My mum was a gentle, giving woman who would do anything for anyone. That night she was a woman in the depths of crisis and help simply didn’t come.

“Southern Health’s apologies will never bring my mum back – nothing will. But if I could ask them just one thing it would be to take a long hard look at themselves, identify their shortcomings and please, for the sake of other vulnerable people, change. You will save lives and there will be fewer families out there like mine having to pick up the pieces after unimaginable tragedy.”

Until summer 2014, Marion, a devoted grandmother-of-three, had been in great physical health, as she had been since she retired as a nurse from Southampton General Hospital in 1999.

Marion was a dedicated volunteer at a local cancer hospice, helping to feed patients and making teas and coffees for patients’ families. She and husband John were members of the Cyclists’ Touring Club and would go for long rides along the coast and had previously helped to run Brownies and Guides.

But in late August 2014 she suffered a mental breakdown and her health began to decline to the point she was no longer able to lead the active life she loved.

The coroner stopped short of writing a regulation 28 letter demanding improvements saying it is clear that care and delivery issues have had a profound effect on the team and Trust and that this incident had been a wake-up call to them with steps being taken to address short comings.

Expert Opinion

“The last 11 months have been an agonising wait for answers for Marion’s family. They have been haunted with questions about what happened that awful night, not least why Marion’s distressing behaviour wasn’t taken more seriously by those who had the power to help her.

“This is not the first time Southern Health has faced criticism for its management of patients suffering with mental illness, but it is incredibly important to Marion’s family that, by learning lessons from her death, it could hopefully be the last.

“We will now be examining the coroner’s findings following the conclusion and will be advising the family on the next steps available to them.” Rebecca Brown - Senior Associate