A man who took his own life in a Blackpool hospital failed miserably, says a mother

A 27-year-old man who killed himself in a hospital toilet after waiting almost 24 hours to see a mental health specialist has been badly failed by the NHS, his mother has said.

Jamie Pearson was admitted to the A&E department of Blackpool Victoria Hospital after taking an overdose of strong painkillers on 17 August.

His mother, Julie Knowles, said her son was left for hours in an isolated room “suffering” along with other patients, including one who suffered from mental illness.

Pearson, who was a paramedic, was still delusional and receiving treatment for severe psychosis when he was admitted to hospital around 7 p.m., Knowles said. said.

He was taken to a small treatment room and put on a drip around 1am to try to prevent damage to his liver.

A patient who spent hours with Pearson in the treatment room said he told her at around 4pm – 21 hours after being admitted to A&E – that ” he was drowning”, and asked: “When will they help me?”

Knowles said “no one seemed to be doing anything” for her son, so she asked to be seen urgently by a mental health professional.

A nurse “walked over” to Pearson and told her she needed to finish her drips before being tested, she said.

Knowles, a former babysitter, said the approach lacked empathy and compassion and that her son returned to his seat and became even more depressed. A fellow patient said he seemed depressed and clearly desperate for help.

After about 24 hours in A&E, Pearson became more agitated and went to the toilet several times, his mother and a fellow patient said.

Then at six o’clock in the evening he went to the disabled toilet for the last time. He was found unresponsive by staff after Knowles called for help.

“If someone would come to see him and say everything is going to be okay that would have meant a lot to my son. But no one ever came out of the mental health unit,” he said.

“He was in the right place. He wanted help. I know that if he had been given help he would have recovered.”

Knowles said he was speaking out for people with mental health problems to be treated more quickly in A&E.

He said he was very concerned that vulnerable people were kept for hours in a small treatment room, which he described as a hell hole.

“It was scary. He was sitting there with his bad thoughts and someone told him about their sad life,” he said.

To put someone in a chair with all the negative thoughts, and other people in the same situation, is just anger.

Knowles said her son had struggled with anxiety since he was a teenager but was happy, popular and in a loving relationship.

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He said his mental health collapsed after going on holiday with friends to Benidorm in June, when he took cocaine.

He returned to Blackpool early and had a feeling of treachery and was convinced the neighbors were watching their house, he said.

Knowles said she took her son to Harbor Psychiatric Hospital, where doctors gave him medication to treat severe mental illness.

His condition worsened and he took a very strong drug on the night of August 17, shortly before he was taken to A&E.

Knowles said her son was desperate for help: “The first person to think to speak [to someone struggling with their mental health] It’s a stretch, but that’s what he did. We arrived, and what did they do? There is nothing.”

Pearson was an only child and lived with her mother, who described her as “the most caring, loving, kind person, with a heart of gold who would do anything for anyone. or anyone else”.

He said: “That is the most painful thing. “When he needed that help himself he failed a lot and became discouraged.”

An inquest into Pearson’s death is scheduled to take place in February. A fundraising page has been set up to help pay for his funeral.

Chris Barben, chief medical officer at Blackpool teaching hospitals NHS trust, said: “This has been a very sad event for all involved and our thoughts go out to Jamie’s family and all they have been through. and they continue to pass after losing him. way.”

Barben said the hospital is still investigating the circumstances of the death and the coroner’s work and that “it doesn’t feel right to minimize this… and to comment or give more details”.

“I’m sorry if this sounds like we’re not sharing the information we have, and I want to assure the family and friends of Jamie that we are fully cooperating with the coronial process and I hope that the outcome it will give them the light they need.”