Another Suicide in a Suffolk Hospital’s Mental Health Wing

An inquest will be held on Monday (20 February ) into the death of a Bury St Edmunds man who took his own life whilst in a hospital’s mental health wing, not the first such death to occur there.

His sister will be represented at the inquest by Sharon Allison, a medical injury specialist at Ashtons.

In October 2014 Jeremy Head, 49, returned to the UK from India, where he had been living and working for 11 years, with concerns for his physical health. He came to stay with his sister, Joanna Clark, in Bury St Edmunds. On his arrival, Jeremy complained of severe pains, particularly around his abdomen and bowels, which he believed were going to cause his imminent death. The day after his return he attended an out of hours doctor at West Suffolk Hospital.

The doctor suggested that he should be seen by his own GP as soon as possible. His sister, Joanna arranged an appointment for two days later but, during this time, Jeremy refused to eat or bathe. He often spoke of wanting to die because of his unrelenting pain, and claimed that no-one believed him. But his sister became more anxious and suspected that Jeremy could be suffering with acute mental health issues, since his descriptions of his ailments became more complicated. On 7 November 2014, after weeks of hospital appointments and tests, Joanna found a suicide note detailing how he was sorry but he couldn’t take the pain any longer.

Fearing for her brother’s safety as well as her own and her daughter’s, she arranged a visit from the mental health team. As a result, Jeremy was persuaded to go into the mental health unit that afternoon.The following morning while preparing to visit her brother, Joanna discovered a sharp kitchen knife and empty drug packets in his bedroom. She photographed them to show to mental health unit staff. She also took a bag of essential things for Jeremy, including toiletries, clothes, underwear, new pyjamas, and some items to make him more comfortable such as squash, food, tobacco, and favourite sweets. A member of the mental health team took delivery of the bag. Joanna told him about her discovery of the drugs and of the kitchen knife but felt that he didn’t seem bothered. Shortly after this, Jeremy was admitted to the West Suffolk Hospital via Accident and Emergency, because staff at the Wedgewood were concerned at his continuing diarrhoea and apparent dehydration. He was kept at the hospital for a few days but sent back to the Wedgewood Unit after it was concluded that there was a psychosomatic element to his complaints of pain.

When Joanna and her daughter visited Jeremy in hospital they found he was unwashed and still wearing the same clothes he had arrived in a week earlier. He had no personal belongings with him. On her next visit to Wedgwood House, Jeremy complained that the bathroom was awful. When Joanna investigated, she found it was encrusted with dried diarrhoea. She noted that he had received none of the goods she had brought for him. Jeremy had undergone a number of medical tests whilst in India and had brought back all his medical notes, so his sister had made them available to doctors. They indicated he had undergone gallbladder pathology by way of an ultrasound scan a few months previously. But at a review meeting with mental health staff it became clear that the doctor had not read Jeremy’s Indian medical notes.

During the next visit, Joanna became alarmed because she felt her brother had ‘closed down’ and arranged to visit the following day, but later he sent her a text asking her not to come. She did visit, and found he was still unwashed and in the same clothes and was not engaging with anyone. She found his behaviour odd and very out of character and was so concerned that on leaving she spoke to a nurse and asked her to keep an eye on him. But the next day, two police officers came to her house to say he had taken his own life by hanging himself from an ensuite door in his room.

Sharon Allison, who is representing Joanna, says: “Jeremy’s family have considerable concerns at the circumstances of his death, especially since this is by no means the first such death to have occurred at the Wedgwood Unit. ‘Not for the first time, concerns have been raised about the safety of ensuite doors on that ward. There is no greater price to pay than one’s life therefore it is imperative that a full and frank investigation takes place to determine the facts surrounding his death. Jeremy’s family are keen to understand how he was able to take his life whilst in the hospital’s care, given the known risks, and they will assist the Coroner wherever possible in carrying out a thorough investigation.”

The inquest will be held at 10am on Monday 20 February 2017 at Beacon House, Whitehouse Road in Ipswich, and is expected to last for three days.