A campaigning mum who lost her autistic son after he was given antipsychotic medication in hospital says she is “devastated” over the death of another child in the NHS.
Paula McGowan described the death of 11-year-old Mattheus Vieira as “wholly preventable”. The boy died from sepsis at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
Paula McGowan says some NHS health boards have been too slow to roll out autism and learning disability training
McGowan lost her own son, Oliver, after he suffered an allergic reaction to an antipsychotic at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital. The 18-year-old had epilepsy and a mild learning disability, as well as autism.
‘Very difficult to examine’
Staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital spoke at an inquest into Mattheus’s death. They said he was “uncooperative” and “very difficult to examine”.
Mattheus, from Norfolk, found communication a struggle and did not like people touching him. He died in April 2022.
Yvonne Blake, area coroner for Norfolk, ruled that the hospital did not recognise the boy’s sepsis in a “timely fashion”. She said his death was “contributed to by neglect”.
McGowan said Mattheus paid the “ultimate price” for “prejudice, bias and diagnostic overshadowing” (this is where medics attribute everything to the person’s autism and fail to consider other explanations).
Some health boards taking ‘far too long’
Mattheus, pictured with his parents Vitor and Maria
Campaigner McGowan, from Bristol, fought for mandatory autism and learning disabilities training for NHS staff after her son died in 2016. The training programme can be found by clicking here.
But she said while many NHS health boards have worked hard to roll out the training, others are taking “far too long”.
After the inquest, Mattheus’ father, Vitor Vieira, said his son “deserved the same standard of care as any other little boy but was denied this due to being autistic”.
‘Very sorry’
In a statement, Alice Webster, the chief executive of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said Mattheus’ treatment fell “below” their standards and they were “very sorry”.
Webster added that the hospital was “committed to learning” to “prevent such a tragedy from happening again”.
Autism Eye contacted NHS England, but it did not respond.
Related:
- Antipsychotics ‘still used as cosh’
- Antipsychotics found to pile on weight
- GP condemns antipsychotics for children
- Nurse condemns over-medication
- Clampdown on over-medication
- Concern over chemical restraint
Published: 17 March 2024
