A 15-year-old girl has been left “unable to walk” after she fell from the roof of a specialist health unit in Dundee.
The teenager, from Aberdeenshire, fell about 50ft from the top of Dudhope Young People’s Inpatient Unit (YPU) last Wednesday.
She has been left with fractured bones in her feet, as well as swelling and bruising.
Her dad told The Courier that the outcome would have been “a lot worse” had her fall not been broken by a construction worker who attempted to catch her.
Girl ‘hung from roof of Dundee health unit then let go’
The man, who does not want to be named, says she gained access to the roof of the Dudhope Terrace building after she was left unsupervised in its elevated courtyard – which is two storeys high.
He claims she then stacked furniture against the wall and used it to climb 12ft up to the roof.
He does not believe his daughter, who has a history of mental health issues, should have been left unattended.
The schoolgirl was admitted to the unit in December with a severe eating disorder.
The girl’s dad said: “She’s had incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts for the last two or three weeks, and yet they left her on her own.
“She was on the roof for five to 10 minutes. She told me she didn’t have the bravery to just run and jump so she hung off and then she just let herself go.
“All the staff ran outside – there were about 20 of them standing there.
“She landed on top of a construction worker. If he hadn’t been there, God bless him, it could have been much worse.”
‘It is too early to tell if she will make a full recovery’
An ambulance was called and the teenager was taken to Ninewells Hospital for treatment.
Her dad said: “I got down to Ninewells, which said she was amazingly lucky.
“But she is unable to walk. She is wearing a moonboot, she’s limping, she is sore, there is a lot of skin that’s been ripped off her feet, she’s got major bruises, she has got swelling.
“It is too early to tell if she will make a full recovery.
“With that kind of hobble in your legs, you might always have a hobble or a limp – she might need physio.”
He says that shortly before the incident, staff had informed him of their intention to increase his daughter’s level of care to “secure” – meaning she would be supervised at all times – because she was at a high risk of suicide.
He said: “They told me they were planning to put her on secure because she had tried to take her life, and yet she was left unattended and look where we are now.
“It doesn’t make sense.
“They shouldn’t ever have left her on her own.”
The YPU, which has 12 beds, treats young people with extreme psychiatric illnesses.
The teenager was discharged from Ninewells on Friday and is now being treated at St Mary’s Kenmure in Bishopbriggs – a secure facility that offers round-the-clock care to young people.
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “Due to patient confidentiality, we are unable to comment on matters relating to individual patients.
“In the event of any incident relating to patient safety, a review is carried out to identify if there is any learning.
“This would then be shared with the patient, and also their family in those cases where that would be appropriate.”
- Mental health support is available via Samaritans by calling 116 123, emailing jo@samaritans.org or visit their website to find details of your nearest branch