A man’s neglect in a mental health facility led to his suicide, an inquest jury has found.
Liam McGenity, 29, died on March 2, 2021 in a ward run by Elysium Healthcare at St Mary’s Hospital, Warrington.
A jury at Cheshire Coroner’s Court ruled that he may not have died had it not been for serious deficiencies in basic medical care.
Cheshire coroner Victoria Davies said this was a tragic incident and changes were now being made at the hospital.
She apologized to the family for waiting three years for Mr McGenity’s inquest and said a number of concerns had been raised in court about his care.
His father Peter told the court that his son was living in Glastonbury at the time he was suffering from what appeared to be drug-induced psychosis and was classified under the Mental Health Act.
He was then transferred to the Brooker Center Mental Health Unit in Runcorn before being transferred to an NHS bed at the private St Mary’s Hospital.
The jury heard he later made a tearful phone call to the Runcorn unit to say he wanted to return there.
Peter McGenity told the inquest that his son “would still be alive if he had been transferred”.
A clinical psychologist who cared for the 29-year-old also told the court that the ward he was admitted to in Warrington was “not suitable for his care”.
Elysium Healthcare said in a statement: “Following the tragic passing of Mr. McGenity while in our care, we continue to extend our deepest condolences to his family. I apologize.”
“In the three years since Liam’s death, a detailed action plan has been fully integrated to address the issues highlighted by this inquest.”
If you are affected by the issues in this article, you can find support below. BBC action line.
In their conclusion, the jury said the one-on-one observations that were supposed to be made on Mr McGenity were not done correctly and contributed to his death.
They found that there were serious deficiencies in the provision of basic medical care and neglect that contributed to his death.
Following the conclusion, Ms Davis said changes had been made to St Mary’s Hospital’s procedures and some observation policies had been changed, but no similar incidents had occurred since then.
Mr McGenity’s family said afterwards: “We don’t stand a chance today because we can’t bring Liam back,” but added: “We are relieved the jury came back with the harshest of conclusions.” .
“We were hopeful that St Mary’s Hospital, which is owned by Elysium, would approach the inquest honestly and openly to make real change and ensure that something like this never happens again,” they said. Ta.
However, they said they did not believe that this had happened and were therefore “very disappointed and had no confidence that we would see any change in their practices.”
Elysium Healthcare has been contacted for comment.
Why not follow BBC Manchester? Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also submit your story ideas below northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
