GRIEVING parents Michael and Jillian Campbell are considering a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman about the treatment their daughter received at Green Lane Hospital in Devizes before she committed suicide.

Sharon Gee, 31 of Budbury Tyning, Bradford on Avon, was found dead in her home by police on July 24, days after a consultant at Green Lane discharged her and allowed her to go home alone in a taxi.

Her parents are angry because a week before being discharged from Green Lane she had been told her three young children were being taken away from her permanently.

Ms Gee had been a patient at Green Lane on several occasions and was initially diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2012.

After a psychiatric review, she was re-diagnosed as suffering from an autistic spectrum disorder in 2013, and was described as an obsessive cleaner.

She arrived home from hospital to a house which had no supply of water, electricity or gas, as they had been shut off due to her lengthy stay at Green Lane, which caused her to suffer another breakdown.

Sharon was taken to Fountain Way mental health hospital in Salisbury and discharged three days before her death, which was due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Campbells want answers as to why their daughter, who had made previous suicide attempts, was sent home alone in a taxi and why they weren’t told about her discharge.

Mr Campbell said: “Sharon was considered to be a high risk patient after her first admission but what we don’t understand is why her risk level was decreased to medium, particularly when she was told about her children being permanently taken away.

“Sharon had a calm face but underneath it all, you didn’t know what was going on. Sharon was very plausible and if she was asked any questions, she would always say she was fine, even if she wasn’t.

“She was very good at appearing to be happy and go along with it all but they are the mental health professionals, they should have seen through that.”

The couple have already formally complained to the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust but were unhappy with the reply.

They received a letter from chief executive, Iain Tulley, offering his condolences.

Mr Tulley said: “It was not felt that Sharon was suffering from an acute mental health issue at the time of her discharge.”

Now the Campbells want confidentiality regulations changed to allow health authorities to keep families informed when patients are mentally ill.

Mrs Campbell said “I know the people there are adults and they have to get their permission to hand over information but I don’t agree with that. How can patients with mental health problems possibly make up their own mind up about it.

“We just can’t understand why they didn’t give us any information.

“I think there was a complete lack of communication and I think parents or families should be told more.”

The Campbells say Sharon went missing from Green Lane Hospital on a number of occasions, but they were not informed by staff.

Mrs Campbell said: “We didn’t even know that she was missing. We had little response from staff. Sometimes Wiltshire police would phone us and ask if Sharon was with us in Stroud.

“We would have liked to have been told about her going missing or her being discharged. We understand there is confidentiality for patients, but we, as concerned parents, should have been told more.

“On some occasions when I’d ring, the staff would say they didn’t know how Sharon was doing so I’d say ‘can you go and check then please’.”

Mr and Mrs Campbell have said that despite last month’s inquest, in which the coroner returned a verdict of suicide, many questions remain unanswered about their daughter’s treatment, diagnosis and aftercare and they will continue to press the authorities for answers.

A spokesman from Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust said: “As in every case of an unexpected death of someone in our care, we carried out a detailed investigation. We are satisfied that her care was appropriate and note that the coroner made no criticisms.

“However we are always seeking to improve our services: we understand the family’s concerns about communication and as a result we are improving training about what staff are able to share with relatives when a patient – as Sharon did – withholds consent for their family to be informed about their care.”