Man's partner 'begged' for help before his death

A man who died from a mixed medication overdose might still be alive if the help his partner was "begging" for had been provided, a coroner said.

Mental health patient Benjamin Stroud, 42, had been under the care of Essex Partnership University NHS Trust (EPUT) in the weeks before his death in March.

Essex coroner Michelle Brown said in a post-inquest report that, despite "escalating psychosis", his care co-ordinator did not flag the case.

Following an overdose of medication in February, his partner, a nurse, called for psychiatric intervention and despite "begging" for help, Mr Stroud's care co-ordinator did not make a referral to the multi-disciplinary team (MDT).

Mr Stroud died at home on 19 March and was found surrounded by empty insulin pens and pain medication.

In her prevention of future deaths report, the coroner said: "It was clear from [his partner's] account that she had been begging the care co-ordinator for Mr Stroud to have an appointment with the psychiatrist, which did not occur and, from the evidence of EPUT, it was clear that Mr Stroud's care co-ordinator did not make any referral to the MDT, despite his escalating psychosis."

The coroner added that the issue of care co-ordinators failing to document their reasons for not referring cases to the MDT had been raised at other inquests.

"If these practices continue there is a real risk of future deaths occurring," Ms Brown warned.

Paul Scott, chief executive at the trust, said: "We will continue to view all safety-related incidents as an opportunity to learn and make sure lessons are shared across the trust."

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Source: BBC News, 16 February 2022