Goodmayes: Ward risks remained after patient death, jury told

When she was able to return to Hepworth ward she checked in on all the patients, including Ms Figueiredo.

She told the court she found Ms Figueiredo’s room empty. She searched the ward for her, eventually finding her slumped in a communal toilet.

She called for help, went to find some equipment, then attempted resuscitation. A doctor came, then paramedics arrived.

Ms Figueiredo was taken to hospital where she later died.

Mrs Storey said she was still on the ward when the call came in to tell them. She told her colleague she had feared the worst. “You don’t need to tell me,” she recalled saying.

Mrs Storey told the court that the toilet where Ms Figueiredo was found was generally open for patients to use and had a bin with a bin bag in it.

The court had previously heard that the toilet was kept locked, except when patients asked to use it.

She told the court that after Ms Figueiredo’s death she took some time off, but when she returned to the ward the bin bags were still being used in the communal toilet where Ms Figueiredo died.

The trial continues.