A junior doctor took her own life, an inquest has heard.
Elizabeth Allen, 25, was found unresponsive at her flat in Stanley Street, Salford, on September 10 2021, Bolton Coroners Court was told.
Her mum Cathy Allen told the court that Elizabeth had been born in Harlow, Essex, but had moved to Somerset when she was young.
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After excelling in her A-levels, she studied medicine at Leicester University and went on to secure a two-year foundation placement at Salford Royal Hospital.
Elizabeth qualified as a junior doctor in August 2021 and worked on wards as a locum.
During the inquest, Ms Allen described her daughter as: “very funny, very sweet, very kind and very gentle.”
She added: “She always wanted to make sure everyone was okay. She was extremely popular and extremely affectionate.
“She loved to sleep, she loved to eat, she loved cooking and loved socialising with her friends.
“She loved the beach, she loved the sea and very much loved her family and little sister.”
Ms Allen said that she last saw her daughter a couple of days before her death.
On September 5, Elizabeth had travelled down to Devon by train to spend a couple of days in a cottage with her family.
Her mother picked her up from the railway station and said that Elizabeth was acting “excitable” and was much louder than usual.
That night, Elizabeth drank some wine and fell asleep on the sofa.
Ms Allen woke her daughter up to put her to bed and told her that she was worried she was “burning the candle at both ends”.
She said that Elizabeth reacted aggressively to this.
“I think she was just cross that I was caring and noticed,” Ms Allen said.
The court heard that when Elizabeth was 17-years-old, she accidentally overdosed on ecstasy while out with friends in London.
Ms Allen said that she was not aware that Elizabeth had used drugs again after this incident and said that she thought “something in her personality changed.”
She admitted, with hindsight, that Elizabeth may have been under the influence of drugs during the car journey from the railway station to the cottage.
On September 8, Elizabeth returned home and Ms Allen said that, prior to the journey, her mood was different again.
Ms Allen said: “On the last morning she seemed to be filled with a new energy that I hadn’t seen.
“There seemed to be a focus about her. With hindsight, I think she’d made the decision to end her own life.”
Elizabeth’s friend and colleague at Salford Royal Hospital, Dr Sophie French told the inquest that she became worried on September 10, after learning that Elizabeth had not been to work that day or the day before.
After failing to get hold of Elizabeth and with no one having spoken to her, Dr French went around to her flat and called the police when she got no answer.
Police forced entry to the flat and found Elizabeth dead in the bedroom and the inquest heard that discarded wine bottles were also found in the flat, along with a suicide note.
Dr French told the inquest that she was “deeply shocked” and said that Elizabeth had seemed “really excited” about moving into the flat less than a week earlier.
Following a post mortem, Dr Usha Chandran recorded asphyxiation as the cause of death.
A toxicological report also found that Elizabeth had alcohol and recreational levels of cocaine in her blood.
The inquest heard that Elizabeth had never reported to her GP with any mental health issues but had self-referred to Trafford Psychological Therapies with anxiety and low mood in June 2021.
Karen Anderson, a team leader at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust, told the court that because Elizabeth lived in Salford, she was told to self-refer to the service in Salford instead.
Ms Anderson said that Elizabeth had agreed to do this but the court heard that she never actually ended up self-referring to Salford’s mental health services and saw a private counsellor instead.
Dr Serena Tolhurst-Cleaver, one of Elizabeth’s superiors at Salford Royal Hospital, told the court that she never had any suspicions of mental health issues and confirmed that Elizabeth never approached any of her supervisors for help with her mental health.
Dr Tolhurst-Cleaver said: “There were never any problems.
“She was extremely punctual, conscientious, really warm and very well liked by everybody.”
Dr Tolhurst-Cleaver added that ‘wellbeing leads’ are available for junior doctors and that support services are in place for those who ask.
“I’m acutely aware that junior doctors have been affected by the pandemic and we did all we could to support them,” she said.
Coroner Rachel Syed recorded a conclusion of suicide and told the inquest that alcohol and cocaine were ‘implicated’ in Elizabeth’s death.
