A WOMAN who was forced to live in a hospital bed for 18 months despite being medically fit to leave has been arrested and evicted to a care home.
The NHS took costly legal action against Jessie, 35, who was first admitted to Northampton General Hospital on April 14 2023 needing treatment for cellulitis.
3
3
3
After a month of treatment, she was ready to be discharged but there was nowhere for Jessie to go.
She was unable to return to her former nursing home as it was no longer able to accommodate her needs.
After recovering from the serious skin infection, she spent 550 days in a chaotic six-bed ward, with only the curtains for privacy.
All of Jessie’s possessions were stored in boxes that surrounded her hospital bed.
With just her collection of dolls for comfort, Jessie said that her mental health rapidly deteriorated during her enforced hospital stay.
Keeping a video diary of her experience, she said: “I feel very angry, upset, worthless, and like my mental health and my life does not matter.”
Jessie, who has been diagnosed with an emotionally unstable personality disorder, uses a wheelchair and needs help with all her personal care.
According to the BBC’s report, Jessie “finds life difficult and can be challenging to those trying to help her.”
When she gets stressed she self-harms and threatens violence against others.
Eventually, the NHS took costly High Court action against her, to have her evicted from the hospital bed she was living in.
Following her arrest, she was taken to a new care home, where she says she feels anxious.
Her story is a clear example of the pressures on the care system and the knock-on effect it has on the NHS.
The Department of Health and Social Care has told the BBC: “This is a troubling case which shows how our broken NHS discharge system is failing vulnerable people.”
The hospital told the publication that it was “not the best environment for patients who are not in need of acute medical care”.
North Northamptonshire Council, responsible for her housing and care, said it was unable to comment due to an ongoing police investigation into Jessie’s behaviour.
She has been accused of sending offensive emails before her eviction.
According to legal documents, the council investigated nearly 120 care places, but only one care home was offered – a supported living flat in a nearby town.
The assisted living facility only has two care staff initially present for 24 hours a day.
Jessie said that her forced move has left her feeling “suicidal” and brought back difficult memories for her.
Jessie is the fourth person to be taken to court by the NHS since 2006.
In January 2025 it was revealed that nearly 13,000 of the UK’s 100,000 hospital beds were occupied by patients who didn’t need medical care.
A lack of social care available in their homes or a shortage of places in care homes were the main reasons that patient discharges were delayed by a week or more.
The Sun has contacted Northampton General Hospital and North Northamptonshire Council, for comment.