THE siblings of a man who died suddenly in intensive care at a psychiatric hospital have welcomed changes made by staff.
James Eaton was found lifeless in his room at Ashdown Ward of Fountain Way hospital on Wilton Road on October 20, and despite resuscitation attempts was pronounced dead that evening.
The 31-year-old had been admitted to the high intensity psychiatric intensive care unit ten days prior to his death, after being sectioned. He was originally sent to Manchester because of a lack of beds in Wiltshire.
Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said: “James was no great age, and although he was suffering from mental health problems there was nothing I know of in his mental health history that led one to suspect he would suddenly and unexpectedly die.”
A post mortem showed no external signs of injury or any signs of an unnatural cause of death, but Doctor Matthew Flynn said Mr Eaton’s stomach was “full of fresh blood” and that he had suffered an unexplained bleed in his upper gastrointestinal tract.
“It’s not normal for young people to suddenly bleed into their intestinal tract,” he added, and said it appeared the bleed had developed in the two days before Mr Eaton’s death.
Mr Rheinberg said Mr Eaton had died of a gastrointestinal haemorrhage, and of natural causes.
Mr Eaton, of Okebourne Park in Swindon, had just started taking Clozapine for his schizophrenia and his brother, Phil, raised concerns that this could have led to his death, but experts and the coroner said there was “no association” between the drug and internal bleeding, and that a blood test taken three days earlier had been “perfectly normal”.
And a chief pharmacist said the combinations of medications Mr Eaton had been taking were not known to have an effect on the gastrointestinal tract.
Mr Eaton’s sister Michelle told the Journal: “There are so many reports online of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, with exactly the same symptoms and deaths” and said the family would continue to investigate the link between Clozapine and internal bleeding to hope to prevent further deaths.
And the pair praised Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership for their transparency around the issue.
Since their brother’s death, the trust has increased its place of safety beds, and Fountain Way staff have improved the way they record observations of patients.
A spokesman for the trust said: “We will be increasing the number of place of safety beds in Wiltshire from three to four as part of a trial to enable us to address CQC improvement requirements, particularly around assessment times.
"A key element of this will be to support the delivery of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 that amended the Mental Health Act to reduce the maximum period someone can be detained on a Section 135/6 from 72 to 24 hours."
Mr Phil Eaton said: “When you see a change like that, it would be very easy to point the finger at someone, but we appreciate it must have been traumatic for the people on the ward as well.
"At the same time, we need to be open about what needs to be improved, because there are clearly some gaps there, but it’s not directed at any individual.”
Mr Eaton’s siblings described him as a “kind, generous and caring person”, who loved animals, WWE wrestling, Pokemon and treating his friends.
