Hove hospital patient found dead

A patient has been found dead in a hospital in Hove.

The death – at Mill View Hospital – comes as Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said that patient safety there had been improved.

It follows an independent review which was commissioned after the death of four patients at the premises in Nevill Avenue, Hangleton, last year.

The latest death is not believed to have been suspicious although it involved a man who had a history of drug addiction. He is not believed to have died from an overdose.

The coroner’s officer has been informed and an inquest will be held.

A spokesman for Sussex Partnership said: “We can confirm that a patient died at Mill View hospital at the weekend.

“All the indications are that this was a death by natural causes, subject to confirmation by the post mortem, which will take place shortly.”

Sussex Partnership said that it had implemented 30 recommendations made in the independent review carried out by Dr Colin Dale, a leading mental health expert. It said that these changes had helped to improve patient safety.

Inexperienced

Dr Dale was brought in after four patients committed suicide at the hospital.

He found, among other things, that junior and inexperienced staff were often supporting the most complex and acutely ill patients.

He carried out a similar review at another Sussex Partnership unit – the Woodlands in St Leonards – after two patients took their own lives within two months.

At Mill View recent deaths include Rosemary Grafen, 22, from Brighton, who died on Friday 15 October last year.

Oliver Minkley, 35, was found dead in toilets there on Monday 8 March last year.

One member of staff said: “We’ve had at least ten deaths across the trust in less than four years.

“Each one is very upsetting for the staff who try to provide the best care possible for people who are really very vulnerable.

“And, of course, they’re upsetting for friends and relatives of the person who has died.”

About 150 inpatients die in mental health units across the country a year – or on average three a week.