Meet the nursing student expelled from King’s for being depressed

Jane* was expelled from King’s for not being able to provide enough evidence for her depression – after failing an assignment by just one mark.

Now, following a Huffington Post article detailing her expulsion in 2012, a petition has been set up in the name of The Tab, asking for the former student’s reinstatement.

The former KCL nursing student, Jane*, who wishes to remain anonymous, speaks exclusively to The Tab.

It all started when Jane missed a mark on an assessment thanks to a serious operation.

“The operation was the trigger, for me – I’ve never experienced anything like that feeling before. The depression caused by the operation was more than I could handle on my own.”

“I was diagnosed with depression firstly around March 2012 – that was when I scored really highly on the test shortly after my operation in February and the King’s GP advised me to exercise more.

“I was too low to leave my bedroom for months, I couldn’t get out of bed and I was suicidal. In November 2012, the same senior student who referred me to a councillor finally persuaded me to see a doctor again, who confirmed that I was still severely depressed.This bout of depression is the most serious that I have had and the operation triggered it.”

‘Nobody checked I was okay’

“A senior figure in the Department gave me two days off and advised that that should be sufficient to recover from the extremely serious operation I had just undergone. I got signed off King’s placement for a week after having a breakdown at the placement- my mentor emailed King’s, but again, nobody followed through or checked that I was okay.

“My GP at King’s, when I told her that I was depressed, advised me to ‘exercise more’, with no follow-ups or checks, even though I scored highly on the test and was diagnosed with serious depression (this was after the operation). I was then diagnosed at home by a different doctor with serious depression during the College appeals process, and was prescribed 40mg citalopram. However, because I had no evidence covering the submission date itself, the college dismissed this evidence of my depression.

“Nobody noticed that I didn’t attend lectures. When I fell behind with my college work, a tutor said that he’d help me. I emailed him the assignment and he didn’t reply. I went into his office to see him and that was when he told me that I was hanging on by a thread, which was about to break.

“While all of this was going on, I was suffering severe financial difficulties and was locked out of Keats because they stopped my funding during the appeals process itself.

“Residence staff, in particular Lee, Susan, Paul and Jill, at Hampstead Residences were amazing during the appeals process – they really came through for me and were the only people who did so throughout the entire ordeal.”

Accusations of dishonesty

“While King’s ordered that I was to be removed from Halls during the appeals process, to go back home, the Residence management stayed in contact with me to check that I was doing okay; it would be a tragedy if literally the only members of staff who actually helped me through this terrible ordeal with compassion and empathy were made redundant at the end of this year.

“A senior student referred me to counselling and wrote a letter to the appeals board, testifying that I was in no condition to leave the accommodation, let alone submit assignments, during the submission period; this letter got me an extraordinary third attempt at appeal, but there was no medical evidence to prove that I was suffering from severe depression at the specific time period that they were looking for, so that was rejected as well.

“They also used the opportunity, instead of questioning me about perceived inconsistencies or offering to speak to me in person, to include veiled accusations that I was being dishonest in my testimony.

“I tried approaching the Compass for help, but they gave me little constructive feedback on my appeals statement.”

‘A degrading experience’

Jane told us the ordeal has left her feeling “ashamed, humiliated and like a failure. I’d come to London to study nursing at a prestigious university and I was going home a failure. Apparently what I went through shouldn’t have affected my studies.”

As you can imagine life after King’s hasn’t been easy for Jane. She’s still pining for a career in nursing – but she was stripped of the opportunity to pursue her dream when she was expelled.

“I am currently working full-time, trying to find an alternative route into nursing. Yesterday I gave CPR to an elderly man twice and saved his life, which was intense! But I need to be able to help people – I care about all of my patients on a really personal level. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else! Nursing at King’s gave me the chance to do something really important with my life and because I became depressed, I can’t follow that ambition anymore.

“It was a degrading experience that crushed my confidence. I was humiliated. I’ve blamed myself for most of this year. I’ve been able to access proper support from my GP, which has helped with the depression. It’s been a terrible feeling, knowing that, to the academic world, I’ve failed and that I can’t pursue my chosen career.”

Jane’s future at KCL

Support for Jane so far has been overwhelming. A petition to reinstate Jane has surfaced – but does Jane really want to go back to KCL after the way she’s been treated?

“I want to continue my studies and pursue a nursing career – I want to care for people and I know that I could never do anything else.

“I’d also like to say how grateful I was when I saw how many people had signed, and their comments – I read through all of them, and every one of them helped me, they were all on my side.

“King’s made me feel like the expulsion was my fault and that I was making excuses- I thought the majority would be on their side because they’re such a prestigious organization. Instead I gained loads of support and good wishes. It’s given me a feeling of confidence that I haven’t had in a really long time.”

And Jane admits she won’t be seeking legal redress.

“No – I want to raise awareness and prevent the same thing happening to other students.”

We asked Jane if she had a message for KCL and this is what she had to say:

“I would like to see King’s change it’s ‘Fit to Sit’ policy and pastoral support, so that students with mental health issues find it easier than I did to get help. Preventing other sufferers from feeling humiliated and ashamed should be a priority.  Since I’ve come out with this story, other students at both King’s and external universities have contacted me indirectly with similar problems in pastoral support.

“Mental health support at King’s needs increased funding and high levels of support to make it a functioning system.”

But, this may not be the only incident of its sort at King’s recently.

A 2nd year King’s student commented on the article:

“I have struggled throughout my time at King’s with quite bad depression and anxiety. They haven’t thrown me out yet, but they have said that they will be left with no other option if I don’t show more commitment. The thing is, I find it very difficult to come into classes – that’s my trigger. More support and suggestions on how to help would definitely not go amiss. I’m terrified of the outcome to be honest.

“So far King’s have been good about giving me mitigating circumstances, however I can’t help but feel an inevitability that it won’t last and patience is wearing thin – which scares me and doesn’t help with my anxiety at all. I hope some changes will be made to the system soon.”

Sebastiaan Debrowere, President of KCLSU, said:

“We have been lobbying all year for a change to the mitigating circumstances procedure as the current one is terrible. [The] college has been very slow so far, presumably because it’s not the kind of topic that allows us to mobilise a large group of students. Maybe [hearing about] this article could help with that.”

He then continued: “An update: we have liaised with the College to ensure that they will get to the bottom of this. KCLSU also has a confidential advice service, and I would encourage anyone who faces any similar issues to get in touch with them.

“Also, the university’s Counselling service (in the NHS health centre) does help hundreds of students a year who face difficult circumstances, so please, if you do feel that you need help seek it. This [incident] is very worrying but it shouldn’t put anyone off from seeking help.”

There’s no denying that Jane’s story has brought to light an important issue – and now it looks like it’s time for KCL to change how they address mitigating circumstances and reassess how they handle situations like Jane’s.

This article was originally published on The Tab Kings.