Two mental health nurses left a mentally ill woman in a locked seclusion room without checking on her for nine hours, it has been alleged.

The woman, who had been sectioned under the mental health act for her own safety, was a patient on Lark Ward where agency staff, Funmilola Dauda and Gbenga Oyewole, worked as mental health nurses, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Lark Ward is part of the Woodlands mental health unit based at the Ipswich Hospital site and is part off Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

Jerry Hayes, prosecuting, said the alleged victim had been placed in seclusion in a locked room with a mattress after scratching another member of staff.

Although the woman was observed on CCTV by a health care assistant NHS protocol required her to be checked in person every two hours by two mental health nurses.

Mr Hayes claimed that CCTV showed that the woman was reviewed by the defendants at 10.20pm and wasn’t physically reviewed by them again until 7.20am the next morning.

He alleged that Dauda and Oyewole had stated in written reports that they had physically reviewed the woman at 1.20am, 3.20am and 5.20am.

“We say these are fraudulent and not true because the reviews didn’t take place,” said Mr Hayes.

He said this was supported by CCTV footage and a health care assistant who had been observing the alleged victim during the night.

Mr Hayes alleged that on one occasion the health care assistant had told Oyewole that the woman had asked for food and drink, but none had been provided.

Dauda, 50, of Prettygate, Colchester, and Oyewole, 60, of Fife, have pleaded not guilty to wilfully neglecting a patient between November 16 and 19, 2019.

The court heard that after concerns were raised by a health care assistant the defendants were interviewed and had denied any wrongdoing.

The trial, which is expected to finish next week, continues.