The mother of a teenager who took her own life at a mental health unit has spoken out, questioning whether her daughter might still be alive had concerns about a bullying culture among staff been addressed sooner. Michelle Curtis' 17-year-old daughter, Lucy, died in January 2024 while she was a patient at the Riverside Adolescent Unit in Bristol. An inquest into Lucy's death found that failings by the unit 'probably contributed' to her tragic passing.
Lucy died at Southmead Hospital on 1 January 2024, after being found unresponsive at the Riverside Unit at Blackberry Hill Hospital on 27 December 2023. The unit, run by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP), closed just weeks later. The inquest highlighted significant issues, including a failure to adhere to mandatory 15-minute patient check-up intervals and delays in providing life-saving medical support.
A separate internal review, which was not shared with the inquest jury but has since been obtained by the BBC, sheds further light on the unit's environment. Completed in February 2025 by the South West Provider Collaborative, a partnership of mainly NHS organisations that managed the unit with AWP, the report details allegations of 'unprofessional communication' and 'bullying' among staff in the months surrounding Lucy's death. It described claims that senior staff showed 'a lack of empathy and compassion' and spoke judgmentally about young patients and their families, with some staff allegedly referring to young people as 'running rings round staff' or 'playing up'.
Michelle Curtis expressed her deep distress upon reading the review, stating, "What we know from those reviews is that staff were working in very difficult conditions. That leaves us wondering whether, if those concerns had been listened to more, whether more could have been done to address those concerns and prevent, ultimately, staff being put in an impossible situation and the tragic outcome for Lucy." She added that the family's anger was compounded by an allegation in the report concerning a threat to nurses' registration, or PIN, made after Lucy's death.
The review also uncovered instances where nursing staff were reportedly referred to as "idiots upstairs" by a member of the leadership team, and some colleagues were allegedly questioned about having "issues of their own" or being autistic. Authors of the report linked these cultural concerns directly to patient care, noting feedback from young people describing "a lack of compassion in care," "overtly restrictive interventions," and instances where distressed patients were left without comfort or support. The report recommended that AWP conduct a further investigation into the alleged bullying culture and develop an action plan, with oversight from the South West Provider Collaborative, as well as considering ongoing external supervision for both the wider team and senior leaders.