Man who killed himself in Blackpool hospital was badly failed, says mother

A 27-year-old man who killed himself in a hospital toilet after waiting nearly 24 hours to see a mental health professional was badly failed by the NHS, his mother has said.

Jamie Pearson was admitted to Blackpool Victoria hospital’s A&E department after taking an overdose of high-strength painkillers on 17 August.

His mother, Julie Knowles, said her son was left for hours in a “depressing” side room along with other patients, including one who was also suffering a mental health crisis.

Pearson, a self-employed joiner, had been experiencing paranoid delusions and was receiving treatment for acute psychosis when he was admitted to the hospital at about 7pm, Knowles said.

Knowles said “no one seemed to be doing anything” for her son, so she pleaded for him to be seen urgently by a mental health professional.

A nurse then “marched” over to Pearson and told him that he needed to finish his drip before he would be assessed, she said.

After nearly 24 hours in A&E, Pearson became more agitated and went to the toilet a number of times, his mother and the fellow patient said.

Then at about 6pm he went to the disabled toilet for a final time. He was found unresponsive by staff after Knowles called for help.

“If someone would’ve come to see him and say everything’s going to be alright that would’ve meant a lot to my son. But at no time did anyone come from the mental health team,” she said.

“He was in the right place. He wanted help. I know if he had been given some help he would’ve got better.”

Knowles said she was speaking out so that people suffering a mental health crisis would be treated with more urgency in A&E.

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Source: The Guardian, 29 September 2024