CHANGES have been made by the ambulance service following a report into the death of a student paramedic who jumped from a moving ambulance.

Rosie Young was a prospective paramedic from Bewdley who died after jumping from a moving ambulance travelling between Worcester and Redditch in November 2021.

Miss Young had been detained under the Mental Health Act when she jumped out of the vehicle travelling on A422 between Worcester and Stratford Road.

It caused her to receive a traumatic brain injury, which she later died of in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

A Prevention of Future Death report, written by senior coroner David Reid, found West Midlands Ambulance Service had no system in place to ensure staff were trained in transporting detained patients.

Mr Reid said: "It seems that your Trust appeared, at the time of these events, to have had no system in place to ensure that those of your employees who dealt with the transportation of patients detained under the MHA were familiar with and trained to apply the provisions of the version of this Policy that was in force at the time.

"It is of concern, therefore, that if that remains the case, not only about the MHA Transportation Policy, but in relation to other policies and procedures under the MHA, circumstances creating a risk of other deaths will occur, or will continue to exist, in the future."

The inquest into the death of Miss Young was supposed to enter its second week on Monday (October 9, 2023), but was postponed because of an outbreak of Covid-19 among the jury.

Before the postponement of the inquest, it was found that Ms Young had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, also known as borderline personality disorder, and had a history of self-harm and suicide attempts.

In the days before her death, Ms Young was admitted to hospital after overdosing on a prescription drug and attempted suicide several times while there.

A few days later, when she was due to be discharged from hospital, Ms Young dislocated her shoulder while moving a chair and was forced to remain in the hospital to prepare for surgery.

Shen then fled the hospital again but was later returned after being found by police and sectioned.

Ms Young was moved from Worcestershire Royal Hospital to Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, where she jumped out of the moving ambulance during the trip.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman apologised to the family of Rosie Young and offered their condolences.

“The Trust undertook an extensive investigation into the incident, which we have shared with Rosie’s family. 

“As a result, we have implemented a number of changes including: education around the Transportation Policy; the employment of Mental Health Clinical Development Officers to improve the training to all staff; and changes to our electronic patient record system to include specific areas about the transportation of mental health patients.

“We will continue to do all we can to try and stop something like this ever happening again.”