UK Priory Hospitals Charged with Two Criminal Offenses in Death of 23-Year-Old Patient

November 7, 2023

Priory Hospitals has been charged with two criminal offences over its alleged neglect of a 23-year-old NHS patient who died after absconding from its care.

An inquest jury last year found that personal trainer Matthew Caseby’s death in 2020 was contributed to by neglect after hearing how he was left unattended in a courtyard for five minutes, allowing the 23-year-old to scale a 7ft 6in fence.

He was hit by a train in Birmingham the next morning – three days following his admission after he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act for his own safety.

The UK’s health regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), launched an investigation into Mr. Caseby’s care last year and has now charged the Priory Healthcare Group with two criminal offences under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

It is accused of failing to take all reasonable steps to stop a patient from being exposed to avoidable harm and exposing a patient to a significant risk of harm.

Father ‘relieved’

Speaking on Sunday about the decision, Mr. Caseby’s father, Richard, a communications consultant from London, who campaigned for a prosecution, said: “These have been long, hard years since Matthew died.

“I am relieved that the Priory Group is finally being held accountable and the CQC is prosecuting the company for offences associated with the death of my son. But the proceedings bring no real satisfaction. A trial just prolongs the day when my family can grieve Matthew’s loss quietly and privately.”

Mr. Caseby was sent to the Woodbourne Priory as an NHS patient by the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, which commissions psychiatric beds from the Priory Group.

A plea hearing will be held on Nov 24 at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court. The penalty for the offences is an unlimited fine.

Earlier this year the CQC prosecuted Care UK Community Partnerships for failing to provide safe care and treatment to a patient. The company was fined £1.5 million after it admitted exposing the patient to significant risk of harm, which ultimately led to his death.

Call for recommendations to be enforced

Mr. Caseby lived in Blackheath, south east London, but was detained near railway tracks in Islip, Oxfordshire. He was sectioned and was later transferred to Birmingham because he was still registered with a GP in the city from his time at university there.

The inquest jury last year returned a narrative conclusion finding that Mr. Caseby was suffering “disordered thinking and did not have the capacity to form any intention to take his own life”.

They criticised the lack of a supervision policy – which meant the courtyard was “unsuitable” for patients’ use – also criticised the hospital’s failure to improve the security of the fence, despite concerns patients had previously absconded by climbing it.

Mr. Caseby’s family has joined with other bereaved parents to campaign for a new body to enforce coroners’ recommendations to prevent future deaths.

The families claim the failure to act on hundreds of coroners’ recommendations every year and to learn from the findings of often expensive inquiries into disasters, means the same mistakes are being repeated.

Richard Caseby has previously said that in his son’s case, the coroner recommended that the Department for Health and Social Care should establish national guidelines for fences and security in acute mental health units. However, he has claimed that despite repeated requests, he has been left in the dark.

A CQC spokesman said: “We are taking criminal enforcement action against Priory Healthcare Limited for failing to provide safe care and treatment resulting in avoidable harm to a patient at Woodbourne Priory Hospital, a mental health service in Edgbaston, Birmingham and/or exposing the patient to a significant risk of avoidable harm.”

The Priory group has been contacted for comment.

Source: Charles Hymas, “Priory faces criminal charges after patient, 23, killed by train,” The Telegraph, Nov. 6, 2023, URL: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/priory-faces-criminal-charges-after-patient-23-killed-by-train/ar-AA1jrLWL