A TALENTED art student and sailor was found hanged after a string of “weaknesses” by a mental health wellbeing service.

Harriet Philo-Powell, 18, of Bulmer, near Halstead, died on February 25 this year.

The Colchester Sixth Form College student had been suffering with depression for two years, an inquest in Chelmsford was told yesterday.

She had referred herself to a wellbeing service at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, a mental health trust, last December.

After a 45-minute phone assessment, she was found to be a low to moderate case, suffering with moderately-severe depression and mild anxiety.

She had told them about having suicidal thoughts and was meant to have a follow-up session in February, which never took place.

She was admitted to West Suffolk Hospital’s psychiatric team after an overdose on February 11 this year and was seen by Duncan Maxwell and Neil Brandon, who assessed her as having “low mood”.

After this her family organised for her to see a private therapist, who she had two meetings with.

She was then found hanged at her home.

Concerns were raised over the lack of communication between the mental health trust and her GP.

The psychiatric team had mentioned her talk of suicidal thoughts to her GP in a letter, but had not told the mental health trust.

Mike Seaman, acute services manager at the mental health trust, said: “There should have been communication and clarity.

“The communication with the family should have been better.

“They should have been involved and had a written plan of what was to occur.”

He said one of the issues raised was with the hospital team and the mental health team had been using different note taking systems.

Hannah Noyce, a barrister representing the family, raised issues about the two different note taking systems and lack of communication with the GP, saying the fact she had suicidal reports should have been recorded.

Also, while she was under the care of the mental health trust, the family did not realise they had been speaking to a social worker and mental health nurse, who had no power to treat Harriet.

Coroner Caroline Beasley- Murray, said it needed to be made clear to whom the family were speaking.

Harriet’s mother, Ruth Philo, said: “She was studying for A levels and was to have had an interview the day after she died.

“She had a bright future and enjoyed an active life.

“We feel there was no duty of candour from the trust, if we had known Mr Maxwell was only a social worker, we would have sought another opinion from a fully-qualified doctor or psychiatrist and proper treatment.”

She had previously experienced the death of a close friend that she could not come to terms with and had flashbacks after witnessing a woman having a heart attack.

Harriet had been in the house on her own after her mother had taken a trip to Cambridge.

She had decided to stay at home to finish a college work.

Police checked her room for a note, but could not find anything and conluded there was no foul play or third party involved.

Mrs Beasley-Murray recorded a verdict she had intended to take her own life.

Following the incident, the mental health trust has reviewed its service with a Prevention of Future Deaths Plan. Hannah, a sailing instructor at Abberton Reservoir, who qualified for the Team GBR Optimist dinghy sailing squad when she was 11 years old, had secured a place to study Art at Oxford Brookes University.