Anthony Luyeye lay dead at Highgate Mental Health Centre for 7 hours despite checks
Published: 21 October, 2010
by JOSIE HINTON
PROCEDURES are being reviewed at Highgate Mental Health Centre after a patient lay dead for up to seven hours despite being checked regularly by staff.
Anthony Luyeye, 25, was discovered dead in his bed at the Highgate Road hospital at 11.20pm on April 18.
Mr Luyeye, who had paranoid schizophrenia, had been “extremely agitated” the previous day, leading staff to sedate him. He then slept for the rest of the day before returning to bed again at 4am, and was checked by staff every half an hour.
But Pancras Coroner’s Court heard last Tuesday that Mr Luyeye could have died at any time after 4am as staff carrying out checks chose not go into his room so as not to disturb him.
Instead, they observed him sleeping face down through his bedroom window, the court heard.
When a nurse decided to enter his room at 11.20am, he found Mr Luyeye, who was lying face down, was “cold” and “stiff”.
Giving evidence at the inquest, Sergeant Paul Clarke, of Camden police, said when he arrived at the Dartmouth Park hospital he was “concerned” about how long the man had been dead.
“He was in advanced rigor mortis with already no movement in his arms or legs,” he said. “I was concerned he may have been dead for some time before he was found. It was very warm inside the room and he was cold.”
A post-mortem was unable to establish how Mr Luyeye died, but the inquest was told he had suffered a number of episodes of dizziness, drowsiness and raised blood pressure in the months before his death.
The incidents led doctors to reduce his anti-psychotic medication, which can put added strain on the heart.
Dr Lucy Power, Mr Luyeye’s psychiatrist, said anti-psychotic drugs can be associated with sudden death, but added this would be “extremely rare” in an otherwise fit and healthy person.
Josephine Spencer, matron at Highgate Mental Health Centre, told the court new guidelines had since been introduced governing how staff check on patients.
She said: “We are now very clear that if there are likely to be complications as a result of medication, it is likely to happen in the first three hours so it is important to check within that time.”
She added that more rigorous checks would be carried out on patients with medical conditions or those at risk of self-harm.
Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Dr Andrew Reid said: “Anthony Luyeye died suddenly and unexpectedly within some hours of suffering an acute behavioural disturbance in the context of chronic and enduring mental illness.”
Speaking outside the court, Mr Luyeye’s mother Georgette Kinzoni said she felt her son had been let down by his carers. “We still have had no real answers about what happened to Anthony,” she said.