A man suspected of killing his wife, before taking his own life, had been prevented from getting the quickest and best support for his psychosis due to his age, an inquest has heard.
Chris and Ruth Stone-Houghton were found dead in their Portsmouth home in September 2022. Mr Stone-Houghton had been experiencing paranoia and delusional thoughts.
Clinicians had requested that he access early intervention for psychosis treatment, but this was twice denied as Mr Stone-Houghton was 66, and the NHS Trust’s cut-off was age 65.
He was instead placed on a year-long waiting list for specialised talking therapy support.
Mr Stone-Houghton’s mental health declined in the pandemic as the jewellery business he ran was forced to close, and in July 2022 he tried to take his own life.
He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and placed on a psychiatric ward at St James’ Hospital in Portsmouth, run by what was the Solent NHS Trust.
During this time he did not engage in conversations with staff and was reluctant to take medication, said Dr Eleanor Lucas – a consultant psychiatrist who managed his crisis care in the community and visited him in hospital.
At the start of August, Mr Stone-Houghton was discharged from St James’ Hospital. Documents accompanying this decision said he’d been “engaging well with staff”, taking his medication and was considered low-risk, the inquest heard.
Dr Lucas described this as “inaccurate reporting”, and that when she saw him in the days following he did not appear to be “100% well”.
The inquest heard that Dr Lucas twice asked for Mr Stone-Houghton to have early intervention for psychosis treatment, but this was denied, with the plan being for the family to alert the service if they noted signs of relapse.
No formal carer’s assessment had been carried out for Ms Stone-Houghton, who looked after her husband. Dr Lucas said the family had been supported at ongoing meetings.
The inquest continues.
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