Newmarket mum struggled without interpreter, inquest told

https://www.burymercury.co.uk/news/24636017.newmarket-mum-found-english-difficult-inquest-told/

8th October

Newmarket mum struggled without interpreter, inquest told

An inquest into the death of mum of three while she was a mental health patient has heard she did not always have access to an interpreter. 

On Monday, the inquest into the death of Katarzyna Szymborska continued at Suffolk Coroners’ Court in Ipswich.

Mrs Szymborska, a mother of three from Newmarket, took action to harm herself on October 14, while she was a patient at Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmunds, where she had been since August after being detained under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act.

She died in West Suffolk Hospital four days later.

It had previously been heard that Mrs Szymborska, whose first language was Polish, had struggled to communicate effectively at times when an interpreter could not be present.  […]

A statement was also read from Izabella Pasierbeu, who acted as an interpreter for Mrs Szymborska on four occasions between August 23 and September 13, 2022.

She said that, from her interactions with Mrs Szymborska at Wedgwood House, she found that her understanding of her situation was good.

However, her comprehension of English was limited to single words and simple comments.

The court heard that an interpreter was available to Mrs Szymborska on some occasions, but not all the time.

Previously, expert witness Dr Laurence Mynors-Wallis, a consultant psychiatrist, had told the court that the language barrier would have made it more difficult for Mrs Szymborska to establish an effective “therapeutic relationship” with clinicians.

“It is in the context of a good therapeutic relationship that someone is more likely to share their risk, for example, thoughts of ending their own life,” he said.