Nurses save teenage patient injured in jump from hospital building roof
A 19-YEAR-OLD patient was injured when she jumped from the roof of a Torbay Hospital building.
The girl was saved by two nurses who caught her. She suffered a broken ankle.
Investigations into the incident are being conducted by both NHS trusts involved.
The teenager was being treated by Devon Partnership Trust's mental health service and had climbed on to a 10ft high roof near the main accident and emergency unit.
The two nurses, a man and a woman, went to the aid of the girl who was threatening to jump.
They were understood to be unhurt in the incident which happened at 10.24am on Saturday January 21.
Ambulance and fire crews were called. After the incident porters took the patient back to the ward.
It is understood the girl was sitting down on the roof and slid off.
A Devon Partnership NHS Trust spokesman said: "We can confirm a female user of our services was involved in an incident, during which she jumped from a low-level flat roof and suffered a broken ankle.
"The roof in question was around 10ft high, so was unlikely to pose any risk of major injury, but we are very grateful to the two members of hospital staff who helped to break her fall."
A spokesman for South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: "While the risk of major injury in this incident was small, the safety of both our patients and our staff is of paramount importance to us and we will fully investigate the circumstances which led to this event."
3 Comments
by spindleshanks
Friday, February 03 2012, 4:16PM
“I remember visiting a friend of mine a few years ago in the mental health unit at Torbay Hospital and was shocked to see a poster on a wall in the unit which stated "Don't drink and drive, smoke a joint and fly". My friend took his life a few months later and I often reflect on what I had seen in the unit that day.”
by spindles12
Friday, February 03 2012, 3:47PM
“"It is understood the girl was sitting down on the roof and slid off".
"A Devon Partnership NHS Trust spokesman said: "We can confirm a female user of our services was involved in an incident, during which she jumped from a low-level flat roof and suffered a broken ankle."
So, she did she jump or did she slip?”
by Chunder123
Friday, February 03 2012, 3:35PM
“I usually refer to these types as crying wolfs. THere are people who are genuinely not well on top and people like this waste the time of mental health doctors when all they are doing is trying to get mental health benefits and other people lose out seeking treatment because time is wasting on these crying wolfs who pretend they hear voices and stuff like that. NOtice how they neevr benefit or seek to become better from treatment but just end up playing the system for a long time to make out that they are invalids.”