A "high-risk" patient overdosed hours after being allowed to leave a mental hospital because she was not deemed a suicide threat, an inquest heard.

Nicola Matthews, of Forestdale, Croydon, died after taking a cocktail of medication in her boyfriend's Addiscombe Road flat in October 2012.

The 39-year-old, of Pixton Way, also overdosed two days before she died but was not retained at Bethlem Royal Hospital because she seemed "optimistic", doctors told South London Coroner's Court yesterday.

Miss Matthews endured a long struggle with borderline personality disorder and had been sectioned "many times", said a senior psychiatrist at the Bromley-based hospital.

She was admitted to the hospital, part of South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, after taking 80 psychiatric tablets on October 14, 2010.

Doctors allowed her to leave the next day.

Jane Boydell, consultant psychiatrist, said: "She was very much of the mind that the overdose was behind her. She was looking forward to the future. She was definitely not suicidal.

Dr Boydell, who broke down in tears as she admitted she wanted Miss Matthews to remain in hospital, added: "I thought it would be good for her but she wouldn't agree to it.

"It wasn't the case we were throwing her out. The only way we could have stopped her leaving was to section her and there were no grounds to do that."

Miss Matthews overdosed again on October 15. Her boyfriend, Grant, said she seemed drowsy earlier in the evening.

He fell asleep, waking up to find her unconscious in the early hours of the next morning.

Paramedics rushed her to Croydon University Hospital, where she died.

Augostina Almyroudy, a trainee psychiarist, said she had discussed problems in her relationship during her stay at Bethlem.

Tim Baldwin, lawyer for Miss Matthews's family, questioned doctors' decision to let her to leave to stay with her boyfriend.

He said: "Given that Nicola's admission was precipitated by an issue with Grant, was there no discussion of Grant's ability to cope with her staying or whether these issues had vanished?"

The inquest, which began on Monday, is expected to close tomorrow.

 

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