Hospital 'deeply sorry' after neglect contributed to death of 'beautiful and gentle' man who escaped
A private hospital in Birmingham which left a patient unsupervised has apologised "unreservedly" after he escaped and tragically died.
Matthew Caseby fled Priory Woodbourne Hospital in Harborne in September 2020 while struggling with his mental health.
The 23-year-old, described as 'beautiful and gentle' by his family, died after being hit by a train.
A two-week inquest concluded on April 21 and found the hospital's neglect contributed to the personal trainer's death.
The coroner heard Mr Caseby should never have been left alone in the courtyard to escape over a low fence. His risk assessment was also deemed inadequate.
The Priory Woodbourne Hospital has admitted "improvements are needed" to its service, and accepted the care provided "fell below the high standards patients and their families expect from us."
A Priory spokesman said: "We would like to say how deeply sorry we are to Matthew's family, and we apologise unreservedly for the shortcomings in care identified during both the investigation process and the inquest.
"We accept that the care provided at Woodbourne in this instance fell below the high standard patients and their families rightly expect from us, and we fully recognise that improvements are needed to the service.
"We have already implemented changes in relation to policies, procedures and the hospital environment, but we will now carefully study the Coroner's findings to ensure that we take all necessary measures to improve patient safety at Woodbourne including carrying out an urgent review of the environmental safety arrangements on Beech Ward."
Mr Caseby, from London, had been detained under the Mental Health Act after reports he was running on the railway tracks near Oxford.
He was assessed at an Oxford hospital as high risk and was put under constant observation while waiting for a bed to be found.
As a Birmingham University graduate, his last registered GP was in Birmingham.
He was therefore sent there, almost 80 miles away, to an available bed in the Beech ward at Priory Hospital Woodbourne in Harborne.
There he was assessed by Priory staff and was found to have a low risk of suicide and self-harm, and medium risk overall. The following day, he was seen looking at the fence.
The inquest was told a health care assistant was concerned he would try and abscond, and so physically stood in the way of the fence and made a colleague aware of her concerns.
The handover note, which recorded this concern, was incomplete, and the absconding risk was not captured on electronic notes, the inquest heard. A nurse informed the doctors that Matthew would be able to scale the fence, however no additional risk assessment was undertaken or measures put in place, the inquest heard.
He also attempted to leave the ward by taken a bag of rubbish to the exit door, but he was stopped.
The next day, on September 7, he entered the courtyard with a member of staff, but after 15 minutes refused to come back inside.
He was left unattended while staff supervised other patients. The jury commented in their summary of facts that Matthew was inappropriately unattended in the courtyard.
Matthew was able to abscond over a low section of the fence that was 2.3 metres high. The police were alerted but Matthew was not found.
The inquest heard there had been numerous incidents in the past involving patients absconding over this same fence, which had not been addressed by the hospital.
The spokesman added the Priory hospital had invested over £122m in facilities over the last three years, of which more than £40m was invested in improving and enhancing safety.It said its hospitals "safely and successfully treat over 30,000 patients a year, many of whom have very complex conditions and it remains fully committed to providing high-quality and safe care".
Who to contact if you or someone you know needs help
Samaritans operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year, by calling 116 123. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org
Mind also offer mental health support between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. You can call them on 0300 123 3393 or text them on 86463. There is also lots of information available on their website.
Campaign Against Living Miserably's (CALM) helpline and webchat are open from 5pm until midnight, 365 days a year. Call CALM on 0800 58 58 58 or chat to their trained helpline staff online. No matter who you are or what you're going through, it's free, anonymous and confidential.