A learning disabilities expert will lead a new probe into the death of an autistic teenager.
Fiona Ritchie will head the inquiry into the death of 18-year-old Oliver McGowan. The young man suffered an allergic reaction to antipsychotic medication while under the care of the NHS.
Oliver McGowan, whose death is to come under fresh scrutiny
Ritchie served as managing director for mental health and learning disabilities with social enterprise Turning Point.
She will work alongside Dr Celia Ingham Clark, who is NHS England’s medical director for leadership.
Medication against Oliver’s wishes
Oliver’s brain swelled so much after doctors gave him the antipsychotic it began to come out of the base of his skull.
Parents Paula, 53, and Tom, 51, say doctors at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital gave their son the medication against his wishes. Oliver died there in 2016.
The hospital was treating Oliver for a seizure. As well as being autistic, he had epilepsy, learning disability and cerebral palsy.
The family fought for a new Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) into his death after claiming there were changes to key aspects of an original probe.
The family say that an early version of Oliver’s first LeDeR suggested his death was avoidable, but Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) changed it.
The CCG stated it could not answer the question categorically.
Questions over Mortality Review process
Paula, who with Tom lives between Bristol and New South Wales, said she was glad there was a new investigation into her son’s death.
But she said failings in the original probe raise questions about whether the whole LeDeR process is “fit for purpose”.
NHS England set up LeDeR to inquire into the deaths of all people with learning disabilities over the age of four to see if it could learn any lessons.
Ritchie said Oliver’s latest LeDeR is a chance to “get to the facts”. It would ensure any learning is “enacted throughout the NHS”.
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Published: 12 August 2019
