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Dead addict ‘let down by system’
GP hits out at mental health care after ex-drugs user who took overdose was found dead
A FAMILY doctor has hit out at mental health care services after the death of a former crack cocaine addict who had been on the road to recovery.
David Turnbull, 28, died of a drugs overdose at his home in Bickerton Road, Holloway, days after returning from Canada, where he had almost succeeded in getting clean.
St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard witnesses, including GP Dr Stephen Aarons, describe Mr Turnbull as being on the best form he had ever been following his trip.
But only two days later, on January 5 this year, Mr Turnbull was found dead on his sofa bed, having taken nearly 18 times the lethal dose of painkiller dihydracodeine.
Speaking after the hearing, both Dr Aarons and Peter Jones, chairman of IBUG (Islington Borough User Group), criticised the mental health system.
Dr Aarons said: “There’s a well-known problem in the inner-city areas with psychological services. Their response isn’t as good as we would like to see. Where there’s a drug or alcohol problem, generally the psychological services say let’s deal with the alcohol and not try to give the overall psychological care required.”
Mr Jones said: “The attitude of the mental health services is that before they can start working on mental health problems a patient needs to address their substance misuse problems, as if it’s all in a separate box.”
Dr Aarons, a GP at St John’s Way, told the court Mr Turnbull, who was unemployed, had a history of psychiatric and drug-related conditions and had a deeply disturbed past.
He criticised the mental health system, which requires patients to be clean before embarking on fully addressing mental health problems, saying: “David was in shared care. We’ve had a number of problems with patients who are in shared care and when they are chaotic – and Mr Turnbull was – after a while it can be quite hard, turning up to chemists every day, keeping to appointments. It’s difficult. Mr Turnbull did drop out. When we referred him to the community mental health team they thought it was mainly a drug problem.”
He said he had seen Mr Turnbull two days before his death, adding: “I’d never seen him in better form. His mood was quite good, probably the best I’d ever seen him, he was quite positive. He’d been to Canada for about five weeks. To my knowledge the only thing he was taking was prescribed by himself.”
Friend and carer Alan Eykelbosch said he had seen Mr Turnbull on his return from Canada but had started to get concerned after he stopped returning his calls.
Mr Eykelbosch went round to Mr Turnbull’s flat and let himself in, where he discovered his friend’s body.
He told the court Mr Turnbull used to take cocaine and crack daily but didn’t think he had gone back on drugs when he returned.
PC Richard Keel, of Islington Police, who attended the scene, described seeing a number of knives scattered around the flat.
Toxicology reports found Mr Turnbull had nearly 18 times the fatal level of painkiller dihydracodeine in his blood, as well as a mix of therapeutic drugs and a high level of methadone.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid said Mr Turnbull had accidentally taken too many drugs and accidentally killed himself.
Speaking after the hearing Dr Aarons said: “David couldn’t keep to appointments, they have a very tight regime. For patients who have chaotic lifestyles it’s not appropriate. In our part of London we’re looking after a lot of patients with similar types of problems. Islington will pay £23 million to the mental health trust and how is that actually spent? It’s a recurring theme, it probably does need an overhaul.”
Peter Jones, chairman of Islington Borough User Group (IBUG), said: “If you have alcohol, substance misuse and mental health problems, they need to be treated as a whole.”
A spokeswoman for Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust said: “Care Trust drug services and mental health services are jointly managed in the same directorate and there is good communication between the two service areas.”
Verdict: Misadventure. |
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