Filming. Day Thirty-eight. Interview with Dr Oliver Roberts, Director of The Meadows, a small, women-only private psychiatric clinic. Shot: outside in the grounds of the clinic. Dr Roberts is sitting at a picnic table.
JUSTIN (out of shot): Dr Roberts, you’ve had two suicides in six weeks in a clinic of just fifteen women. That doesn’t reflect too well on the clinic, does it?
ROBERTS: Obviously, all deaths in the clinic affect us very deeply. As you say, we’re a small clinic, which means we become almost like family, and to lose two of our members is a tremendous blow for us all. But you know, Justin, this is a high-risk clinic. Most of the women who come here have either attempted suicide or threatened it, so unfortunately the chances of this kind of thing happening are always going to be high. And if you look at our long-term record you can see we hadn’t had any casualties at all for the four years before these two recent deaths. Of course, even one death is too many, but it’s important to put this into perspective.
JUSTIN: Isn’t it worrying that, after so long without a single incident, two vulnerable women in your care have taken their own lives within six weeks of each other?
ROBERTS: Naturally, that’s of concern, and we’re in the process of investigating very thoroughly the circumstances surrounding these two tragic incidents. But I would say that copycat behaviour is not uncommon in clinics such as ours, where some of the residents are highly suggestible and the bonds built between them can be very strong.
JUSTIN: You think Charlotte Chadwick took her own life to copy Sofia Redding?
ROBERTS: I’m only saying that’s one of the lines of enquiry we are pursuing, but as I say, we are carrying out a very thorough investigation into the circumstances that led up to both deaths. And of course, we will be reporting back to the Mental Health NHS Trust.
JUSTIN: So what would you say to reassure the families of other residents in the clinic who might now be anxious about whether their loved ones are safe here?
ROBERTS: While we understand the concerns of the families, there is absolutely no indication that these were anything more than two tragic, but unconnected, incidents. Both the women involved had histories of self-harm and suicide attempts so, while their deaths are deeply regrettable, sadly they tie into a pattern of behaviour that was already in place long before they arrived here.
JUSTIN: But surely the very function of a clinic such as this one is to supervise these vulnerable patients to protect them from themselves? And yet you’ve managed to take your eye off the ball twice in less than two months.
ROBERTS: If I could just correct you there, Justin. While it’s true that Charlotte Chadwick’s death took place at the clinic itself, we mustn’t forget that Sofia Redding was on day leave when she took her own life. We had reached the decision, after lengthy consultations with Sofia and her family, that she was stable enough for occasional day visits home or out shopping as part of the gradual process of phasing her back into normal life. She’d already been on several such visits without incident. It was unfortunate that, on this occasion, her husband had to take one of their children to a dentist’s appointment, so he couldn’t drive her back to the clinic and he accepted her assurances that she’d be fine catching the train, a decision he, of course, now bitterly regrets.
JUSTIN: For anyone not familiar with the case, Sofia Redding was dropped off in the centre of Watford to catch a train back to the clinic, but she never arrived. She was found some hours later in scrubland behind a multi-storey car park near the station. She’d thrown herself off the fifth floor.
ROBERTS: Sofia had made a very strong recovery during her time here. She had convinced everyone, including her own family, that she no longer presented a risk to herself. We were talking about fixing a release date in the not too distant future. This seems to have been an opportunistic decision on her part, something that no one could reasonably have foreseen. This is an issue I go into in some detail in my book Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown. I’m afraid that, when you enter the world of the suicidal mindset the only golden rule is that there are no rules.
JUSTIN: Is that a quote?
ROBERTS: I’m sorry?
JUSTIN: From your book?
ROBERTS: I do say something of the kind, but I really can’t remember the exact wording. Anyway, do you think you have enough now? I have a very hectic schedule today.
JUSTIN: Oh, but I had some more—
ROBERTS: We’ll have to schedule in another time. Sort it out with Bridget, would you?