A grieving mother broke down as an inquest was told of the “poor” attempts to save the life of her daughter.

Natasha Raghoo died at The Dene mental health hospital in Hassocks after a suspected cardiac arrest, an inquest was told.

The hearing at County Hall North in Horsham was told Miss Rhagoo, who had bipolar disorder, was found unresponsive at 6.30am on May 5, 2012, but paramedics were not called to the psychiatric hospital until 6.55am.

Roy Nightingale told the inquest he asked why he was not called sooner. He said he was not given a response.

Mr Nightingale, clinical operations manager for South East Coast Ambulance Service, said: “I would have expected a complete hand over, it being a medical establishment.”

When he arrived at Miss Raghoo’s ward, he said a member of staff was carrying out “poor” CPR which was “too soft and too shallow” next to a defibrillator that had not been used.

Mr Nightingale added: “I was surprised to see it hadn’t been used – if it had been used, it would have guided the staff through the process.”

Ronald McClung, a ward manager who is responsible for the basic life support training at the hospital, said being asked to give CPR to patients was “very uncommon” at The Dene.

He said: “I cannot say how staff are going to react in emergencies, all I can do is provide them with the training. I can’t be there 24 hours a day.”

When asked whether nurse’s skills should differ in a psychiatric hospital to a general hospital, Mr Nightingale said: “Basic life support is basic life support, I would expect the same level from a trained member of the public.”

Miss Raghoo was admitted to the mental health facility on April 27, after a suspected relapse to her condition.

In the early hours of May 5 she was put on 15-minute observations to check her condition after she worsened.

Her family discovered Miss Raghoo had died when they called to check on her at 9.30am on May 5.

Outside the inquest her brother Navind Raghoo said: “It has been very difficult. We just want justice for Natasha.”

A week before her death Miss Raghoo wrote a letter raising issues about being far away from her family in Croydon and the trouble they were having arranging visiting times.

The inquest continues.