A HEARTBROKEN family discovered their son dead after he was treated at a hospital “worse than prison” and “banned from stepping outside”.
David Alan Thornton, 45, tragically took his own life after staying at the Royal Blackburn Hospital, Lancashire, to seek help with mental health.
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His family had made plans to take him out for lunch, but he chose not to go.
They sadly discovered him dead at their home when they got back later in the afternoon.
David’s devastated family have now slammed the NHS teaching hospital he received treatment at and claimed it’s “worse than prison”.
It comes as a coroner concluded there was inadequate communication and documentation during David’s treatment, as reported by Lancashire Live.
An inquest heard coroner Kate Bisset criticise the “toing and froing” David had to endure between several mental health hospitals.
She determined “David had acted impulsively” in taking his own life, but also found his experience of services provided “was not as it should have been”.
David was an outdoors lover who often went fishing to help boost his mental health.
When he had been treated at a unit in the former Calderstones, in Whalley, David thrived due to a large garden.
But he spiralled when moved to the Royal Blackburn Hospital.
A statement by David’s parents Linda and Alan was read to the inquest in which they wrote: “His family couldn’t understand why he had been moved, he wasn’t well enough to agree to it or to challenge it.
“It was worse than a prison to him as he wasn’t allowed outside. He wanted to return to Whalley.”
David subsequently transferred back to Woodview at Whalley and stayed for six days before returning to his family home.
But his key mental health worker did not monitor his prescriptions.
This left David and his family fearing he would run out of necessary medication.
LSCFT team leader Emily Eaton was asked about David’s medications.
She said: “It was recognised that he had only been given 14 days.
“When a patient is put on new anti-psychotic medications they should be given a three-month supply and monitored for 12 months.”
His health worsened after he began taking one anti-psychotic drug – resperidone, alleged David’s family.
They said it left him “dribbling from the mouth”.
The inquest also heard how David had been hearing voices and thought he was Gordon Ramsay.
He believed he had spoken to the late Queen at Ascot and thought something had been implanted in his brain at the Kennedy Space Centre.
At the inquest a mental health nurse with Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT), said there was nothing in David’s records to justify why he was moved around so much.
Nurse Ubaid Javed, who was not directly involved in David’s care, said the reason for relocations should have been documented.
There also should have been records of handovers done from old to new wards.
“There was nothing in the records to state what was handed over,” he said.
A review carried out after David’s death found “lessons to be learned” and there was not a complete care plan in place.
Area Coroner Kate Bisset said: “How many inquests in the last month have I heard there was an incomplete care plan? I can think of at least three.”
Speaking to David’s family the coroner said: “I think you are absolutely remarkable people as a family.
“If I ever struggle with mental health I would count myself incredibly privileged to have a family like you.
“I often say that if clinicians communicated better, I’d be out of a job.
“However I can’t say that if David had stayed in hospital the same would not have happened.
“I can’t say that there is any area of care that could or should have been different which would have made a difference to David but that is not to say that I think your experience is as it should have been.”
You’re Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
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