Inadequate mental health services and long NHS waiting times contributed to the death of a 28-year-old trans woman, a coroner has ruled, warning that more trans people could die “unless action is taken”.
At the time of Sophie Williams’ death on 20 May 2021, the Northern Irish artist and activist was under the care of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust (BEH) in north London and had been waiting for a first appointment at a UK gender identity clinic for nearly five years.
Inadequate care provided by BEH and distress caused by immense wait times to access trans healthcare were among factors that “exacerbated” Williams’ mental health symptoms and “contributed to her death”, ruled assistant coroner John Taylor in a report handed down on 1 March by the North London Coroner’s Court. “There is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken,” he warned.
Speaking to openDemocracy after the inquest, Sophie Naftalin, a solicitor representing Williams’ loved ones, said the inquest “tells a story of a mental health system in complete crisis” and of a “complete and abject failure in terms of the mental health support provided”.
Naftalin added: “This was exacerbated by Sophie’s additional needs and barriers as a trans woman, and because there was no recognition of these needs within the service.”
In a statement shared on Instagram, We Exist, an organisation that Williams co-founded to support trans communities with grants to access healthcare and cover living costs, said: “Taylor’s conclusions “confirm what we, the trans community, our families and our comrades already know: that structural barriers to care, institutional discrimination and denial of access to life-saving gender-affirming treatment have caused and will continue to cause the deaths of our loved ones far before their time”.
“Sophie’s death was not an isolated incident, but is a recurring tragedy for transgender people throughout the UK. Far too many trans lives have been lost by institutional neglect and denial.”
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