'NHS treated Gosia like a box-ticking exercise'

The friend of a woman who battled alcohol addiction for years before her death said she was treated like a "box-ticking" exercise by mental health services.

Gosia Nowak, 41, died two days before her birthday in 2019 after consuming a large amount of alcohol, less than 24 hours after an NHS appointment.

Stuart Ringer, from Maldon, Essex, who knew Nowak for 18 years, will give evidence to the Lampard Inquiry - which is examining deaths at NHS-run inpatient units in Essex - on Wednesday.

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), which runs mental health services in Essex, has apologised to bereaved families and said improvements have been made.

The public inquiry is looking into more than 2,000 mental health-related deaths under NHS mental health services in the county between 2000 and 2023.

Nowak had been under the care of South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, which became part of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) during a merger in 2017.

Nowak, whose full name was Malgorzata Elzbieta Breczko-Nowak, was Polish and Ringer said she was multi-lingual, very sociable "and had a zest for life".

"But as the addiction took over and came into her life, that person evaporated and disappeared into the ether," he told the BBC.

Ringer said she had a difficult childhood, she never knew her father and her mother disappeared from her life when she was 15.

He added that she had experienced sexual abuse and had "an ingrained distrust of people".

Ringer said Nowak spent time in several locations, including Harlow and Chelmsford in Essex, and tried to engage with various social services and charities, but ended up homeless on several occasions and was twice admitted to a psychiatric hospital ward.

"No-one ever asks what the root problem of the addiction is; it's 'here, take some drugs, go home', they've ticked a box, she'll be all right," Ringer said.

"I think she was treated with a great deal of negligence [and] apathy," he added.

Ringer said he felt mental health staff were under too much pressure and had been "impatient" when dealing with Nowak.

"It's almost like they just can't be bothered," he said.

"We can all be under pressure in our jobs, but this is about people's lives and ultimately their deaths."

"To see someone you really care about in real bad pain, and you can do nothing about it - and the people that are meant to be the professionals seem to do nothing about it - yeah, that's left a scar," he said.

Ringer is one of several people who will give evidence to the Lampard Inquiry during its February hearings.

Last week, the Lampard Inquiry announced its timetable had been delayed by more than six months, due to a change in its schedule.

Baroness Lampard's final report and recommendations are now expected to be published in mid-2028.

Paul Scott, the CEO of EPUT, said: "As the inquiry progresses there will be many accounts of people who were much loved and missed over the past 24 years and I want to say how sorry I am for their loss.

"All of us across healthcare have a responsibility to work together to improve care and treatment for all and to build on the improvements that have already been made over the last 24 years."

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