Islington News: Arsim Ballovci | Mental Health | Whittington Hospital | Fire Escape

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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 24 October 2008

Patient found at bottom of Whittington fire escape

‘There are no witnesses to say he fell or threw himself from a height’

A MENTAL health patient found at the bottom of a Whittington Hospital fire escape may not have killed himself, a coroner ruled on Friday.
Arsim Ballovci, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, died of multiple injuries after being found lying on the grounds of the Whittington in Archway in February.
He had walked about 200 metres from the Topaz Ward at the nearby Highgate Mental Health Centre, where he was a voluntary in-patient.
St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid delivered an open verdict, saying: “There are no witnesses to say if he tripped, slipped or fell or to say he voluntarily threw himself from a height.”
Mr Ballovci, 35, used to live with his brother Arain in Holloway Road.
But, after he jumped out of his bedroom window in November last year, he was admitted to the Whittington Hospital with fractured bones.
He was referred to the Highgate Mental Health Centre, where he was a voluntary in-patient. He told doctors he heard voices in his head.
The inquest was told that because of fears for his safety, Mr Ballovci was rarely allowed to leave the ward unsupervised but that the supervision was relaxed weeks before he died for cigarette breaks.
His brother Arain told of one occasion when his brother went missing when on an unsupervised cigarette break.
Dr Lucy Power took over Mr Ballovci’s care after he was transferred to the Highgate centre. Dr Reid asked why Mr Ballovci was not formally detained after complaining of hearing voices telling him to self-harm.
Dr Power said: “He was willingly staying and undergoing treatment. When he first came into hospital he wasn’t sure if he was suffering from a mental illness. “
Asked if she thought Mr Ballovci was a suicide risk, Dr Porter said: “There was always a risk. It would never go. I don’t think he was suicidal.”
Mr M Osmond, who was working at the Whittington Hospital on February 11, the night Mr Ballovci fell, told how he was disturbed from his work by a noise.
He said: “I heard a sort of bump and then someone breathing.”
Mr Ballovci died four hours later.
Coroner Dr Reid said: “In the absence of direct evidence I can’t conclude that he died as a result of an accident or misadventure nor can I be sure he took his own life.”

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