A YORK woman says her mother was failed by mental health services in the city.

Colleen Jarvis struggled with paranoid schizophrenia throughout her adult life, but had been successfully treated with medication for more than a decade prior to last May, when she contracted double pneumonia and was on life support for several days.

During this period, her anti-psychotic medication was halted to allow doctors to treat the pneumonia, and once her life had been saved, she was sent to the Lanchester Road Hospital in Durham, where Clozapine, the medication which had kept her stable since about 2003, could be reintroduced.

Fay Jarvis, Colleen’s daughter, said her mother was released from hospital back to York before her medication levels had reached a level which would have kept her safe. An inquest heard last week that after returning to York, Colleen disappeared for four days before her body was found in St Nicholas Fields.

Fay said: “She was a good mum to me and my brother, and she was a fantastic Nana, she really loved her grandchildren and adored her nieces and nephews. The highlight of her week was spending time with them and spoiling them.

“The words I’m sick of hearing from the mental health team are ‘in hindsight’ and ‘if we could go back’. Nobody’s life should be ‘well, in hindsight we would do this differently’. It shouldn’t be about that, people should pick up on these things anyway and I don’t believe they did. I think mum was failed massively by that hospital but also by people in York who were there to support her as well.”

The inquest heard Colleen had presented well to doctors in Durham, and said she had no thoughts of self harm or suicide. The levels of Clozapine measured in Colleen’s blood were lower than during previous readings when Colleen was considered to be stable and well, doctors said they were satisfied the levels were increasing, and her attitude and engagement suggested she was ready to be cared for in York, where her health and wellbeing would be monitored with home visits.

A spokesperson for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We understand how distressing this must be for Ms Jarvis’ family and send our sincere condolences.

“We’ve previously met with the family to discuss and respond to their questions and we’re sorry to hear they still have concerns. We always aim to provide service users with the best possible care and we would ask Ms Jarvis’ family to please get back in touch with us if they wish to discuss anything further.” Assistant coroner Johnathan Heath returned a verdict of suicide.

*The Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. The NHS 24/7 crisis service in York is on 01904 526582. If somebody is at serious risk of harm you should call 999. York Mind offers support on 01904 643364.