Woman living in fear after being injected with needle that pricked security guard in A&E struggle

A woman who was injected with a needle that also pricked a security guard during an A&E struggle is living in fear she could have been infected with a virus.

Lucy, who did not want her real name used, claims she was “ferociously” pinned down by four security guards and forcibly injected with a sedative while suffering a mental health crisis at a hospital in Manchester in spring last year.

The 45-year-old, who works in social housing, said she still has daily flashbacks of the ordeal.

NHS documents, seen by The Independent, show staff admitted the incident placed Lucy at risk of contracting a blood-borne virus and should have invited her for blood tests.

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But Lucy said health professionals failed to inform her of the needle incident and she only found out six months later when she complained about her treatment.

In a letter responding to her complaint, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) offered its “sincere apologies” for her experience.

It comes after The Independent previously revealed women in psychiatric units are significantly more likely than men to be restrained using drugs. The NHS carried out thousands of forced chemical restraints on individuals each month between October 2020 to February 2021 but 63 per cent of all of those chemical restraints were used on women.

Recounting her ordeal, Lucy said she was taken into A&E by her family as she was experiencing mental health problems.

She grew distressed and started having panic attacks when staff would not let her leave after 11 hours. She was eventually sectioned under the Mental Health Act – a decision she said felt like an “abrupt escalation”.

Lucy was offered diazepam, a powerful anti-anxiety drug, but she refused to take it because she said doctors refused to tell her the name of the drug. That prompted her to be forcibly restrained and injected with the sedative lorazepam.

“They were like, ‘we're going to give you an injection’,” she said. “I was going, ‘no, no, no, no’. I was screaming my head off and they went and forced me down on the floor with four of the security guards.

“And I was just wriggling and wriggling going ‘no, I don't want it’. I do remember seeing a security guard with a scratch on his arm and I said to the guy, I'm really sorry about that.”

Lucy said the ordeal was “traumatic” and explained she was later placed in a psychiatric unit for five days.

“It feels like it was a series of unfortunate events that just spiralled and spiralled,” she added. “I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy.”

She said she only found out a security guard had also obtained an injury from the needle when she requested documents detailing what had happened to her from the NHS six months later.

“I can remember reading the notes and I just went numb,” Lucy added. “I was just like, ‘oh my God’. I felt sick. I was absolutely horrified.”

Lucy said she is now too scared to go for a blood test to check for any possible infection as she was afraid of what it might reveal.

Her NHS patient notes state that one of the security team that restrained her suffered a needle stick injury in the struggle but they could not be sure if that happened before or after Lucy was given the injection. Both should be tested as a precaution, they said.

The notes continue: “Both individuals are not known to have blood-borne virus and are considered low risk. Lucy to have bloods taken in emergency department and then be invited for repeat bloods by her GP in eight weeks”.

But hospital notes show Lucy was not told this information directly by NHS staff, who only shared it with her daughter, and she was not contacted for any follow-up tests.

Lucy has now escalated her complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, requesting £5,000 compensation for what she says have been constant delays since first lodging a complaint with the NHS in June last year.

Bridget Hughes of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said the organisation was aware of Lucy’s complaint and was “very sorry to hear of their distress”. She said the trust could not comment further for confidentiality reasons.

Ms Hughes said its staff conduct a “full mental health assessment, and, where needed, referral on to the most appropriate support and treatment”.

“We recognise that attending hospital can be a very stressful environment, and we are committed to providing compassionate, safe, least restrictive care,” she added.

*Lucy’s name has been changed to protect her identity