The parents of a 27-year-old woman from Ipswich have questioned the mental health clinicians she spoke with the day before her death.

Tuesday saw the second day of the inquest of Ellen Woolnough, known to her friends and family as Ellie, who died in July 2022. 

The court heard that Sarah Gifford, a mental health nurse for the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s Crisis team, had called Miss Woolnough at 5:31pm on July 19.

At the time, Miss Woolnough was suffering from a vomiting bug. Her father, James Woolnough, has previously told Suffolk Coroners’ Court that his daughter’s mental health would always deteriorate when she was physically unwell. Miss Woolnough is thought to have had Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, Miss Gifford said she had agreed with Miss Woolnough that the Crisis team would visit her at 11am the next day.

She explained to Miss Woolnough that due to staff sickness, it was unlikely that a visit before midnight would have been possible. She said that, taking into account Miss Woolnough’s own illness, she had suggested that the visit could take place in the morning.

Miss Gifford said that Miss Woolnough had agreed to this and had said that she felt able to keep herself safe in the meantime.

However, Miss Woolnough’s parents said that their daughter would not have rejected a night-time visit, as time “would have been irrelevant” to her.

In his evidence on Monday, Mr Woolnough said his daughter had moved all clocks out of her flat, as keeping track of time would increase her anxiety.

During the inquest, transcripts of calls recorded by Miss Woolnough’s mobile phone have been referred to. In the recordings, Miss Woolnough’s side of the conversation can clearly be heard but Miss Gifford’s cannot.

The presiding coroner Mr Darren Stewart OBE asked Miss Gifford if NSFT routinely records calls. She confirmed this, but said she did not know how long recordings were kept for.

Miss Gifford also said that she was not aware of the incident on July 20 which is believed to have resulted in Miss Wolnough’s death until she returned to work sometime later. She could not recall how long, but believed it was at least several days.

The inquest continues.