Mum’s fears over poverty — (The Star)

 Jane Hallam had attempted to take her life with a drugs overdose previously and now her family are seeking answers about the treatment she received from the Sheffield Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment team in the three weeks before her death in May 2011.

Mrs Hallam, a mother-of-two, who lived in Woodhouse Mill, Sheffield, took an overdose on April 28 after stockpiling tablets and telling her family ‘not to bother her’ because she would be watching a film.

But another relative became concerned when she received no answer to phone calls and she was saved by her intervention.

Her discharge from the psychiatric unit at the Northern General Hospital was opposed by her sister-in-law, Pauline Hallam, the inquest being held in Doncaster was told yesterday, because she feared another suicide attempt.

Community mental health nurse Lisa Hill carried out an assessment and said she felt the risk of Mrs Hallam harming herself had reduced because she had said suicide was no longer an option.

But during further appointments Mrs Hallam talked of having hallucinations about her cat which she had given away because she didn’t think she could afford to feed it.

On a later visit to her home she was ‘visibly anxious and shaking and expressed the belief she would not be able to survive financially and couldn’t afford to support herself, “ said Miss Hill adding: “She said she would rather be dead than live in poverty.”

Mrs Hallam said she was afraid to go to the supermarket because she couldn’t afford food and had stopped visiting friends because of petrol costs.

Miss Hill said she was given medication for her anxiety and afterwards expressed ‘a strong desire to get better’ but was found hanged on May 17

Miss Hill denied the crisis team wanted to see her ‘off their hands as soon as possible’. The inquest continues today.