Care failures contributed to man’s death in hospital – BBC News

A mother has spoken of her “utter devastation” after a jury concluded failings in care at a mental health unit “contributed” to her son’s death.

Bren McFarlane, 20, died less than 24 hours after being admitted to The Harbor psychiatric hospital in Blackpool on October 25, 2022.

An inquest found he died from a brain injury caused by a misadventure.

During the hearing, the hospital trust admitted failing to provide “basic medical care”.

The inquest at Blackpool Town Hall heard Bren, who lived in Accrington, was a vulnerable man with a history of self-harm.

The court heard Mr McFarlane was admitted to hospital on October 24 after he began suffering psychosis and should have been under constant observation.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage showing employees combing each other’s hair when they should have been carrying out their duties.

Hours later, Mr McFarlane was found unconscious in a bathroom and died in hospital four days later from head trauma.

The jury concluded that “on the balance of probabilities, the provision of care contributed more than minimally to Bren’s death.”

They also concluded that “staff failed to demonstrate professional standards of behavior.”

Speaking after the inquest, Mr McFarlane’s mother Gail Rawlinson said: “As a family we are completely devastated by the findings and the loss of our precious, handsome, kind and daring boy hero .

“There was a failure to properly examine Bren, which means he was not properly observed. The actions of staff and the overall environment did not protect my son as it should have. ‘be.”

She said “no family should go through something like this again.”

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Chris Oliver said his “thoughts remain with Bren’s family and friends”.

He added: “Following Bren’s death, we undertook a thorough investigation which identified failings in the provision of our care.

“These included environmental and property issues and the behavior of staff, which fell below the professional standards that we expect and that the vast majority of our colleagues display every day.

“We have implemented all of the recommendations in our investigation report and have provided an update to the family, throughout the investigation process, on the actions taken.”

Mr Oliver said the trust would “fully accept the coroner’s findings” and “continue our commitment to being open and transparent where improvements can be made”.

Coroner Alan Wilson said of the trust that he was “glad to have done and will be doing something to alleviate this from happening in the future”.

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