Inquest into death of a Suffolk man, who died whilst an inpatient at Ipswich Hospital

An inquest opens on Wednesday (8 November) at Ipswich Coroner’s Court into the death of John Scott, an Ipswich man who was found hanged in a toilet cubicle at Ipswich Hospital.

The Scott family’s lawyer is Sharon Allison, medical negligence specialist and partner with Ashtons Legal.

John Scott, aged 66, had been admitted to hospital due to acute confusion and delusional thoughts on 3 March 2016. He had been undergoing tests and assessments to determine the cause of his poor cognitive state. He was found by one of the nurses on the ward in a hospital toilet. He was given CPR and then transferred to intensive care. A decision to turn off life support was made on 15 March 2016 and Mr Scott passed away three days later.

Sharon Allison comments: “It is the coroner’s function to determine what took place in the days and hours leading up to Mr Scott’s very sad death. It was unexpected and came as a great shock to his family and close friends. Whilst the process of an inquest is difficult for them, they are looking to learn more about the factors that influenced Mr Scott’s care and the assessments of his mental health condition.”

The inquest will take place at 10am at Ipswich Coroners Court, before assistant coroner Mr Parsley, and is scheduled for two days.