Staff on observation duty at a mental health hospital were seen on CCTV looking at their mobile phones when they should have been watching a woman who choked on a sandwich, an inquest heard yesterday.

Nurses and healthcare assistants were called to Winchester Coroner’s Court to give evidence regarding their roles in the care of Tracy Ann Young, a 54-year-old Liphook woman who died at St Michael's Hospice in Basingstoke on March 30 last year after the incident at Parklands Hospital in Basingstoke on February 18.

Tracy was rushed to the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital but had already suffered ultimately fatal brain damage. The cause of her death was given as a hypoxic brain injury and choking on food.

The jury was again shown closed-circuit television footage of activity in the staff observation room next to the seclusion room in the 136 Suite where Tracy was being kept after behaving aggressively towards staff.

A male and a female member of staff were both shown using mobile phones while working in the observation room.

Mobiles were supposed to be banned from the observation room to ensure the two observation staff were not distracted from keeping a constant eye on Tracy for an hour each at a time, with the other assisting them.

The jury also heard that some observation shifts were three hours long. The small observation window in a door made it difficult to see the whole room, and observers needed to stand up.

Not all staff were able to log in to a computer system recording details about Tracy’s condition. There was uncertainty about what Tracy, who was diabetic, had eaten and drunk. Other evidence mentioned issues with checking staff training, procedures and the emergency response when Tracy collapsed.

Yesterday was the third day of the inquest, which is scheduled to last for nine days.