Man with autism and learning disabilities dies due to sub-standard care

Myles Scriven died from a blood clot in his leg, which was overlooked by staff at Calderdale Royal Hospital and his GP practice. He was only 31.

The coroner in Myles’ inquest found that a lack of reasonable adjustments made for Myles contributed to his death, with clinicians being “blind” to his additional needs.

Despite his family flagging his disabilities, and the fact Myles required help to make medical or treatment decisions, his two uncles - who were his stated medical advocates - were never contacted by the hospital or GP either in late 2022 or spring 2023, during Myles’ periods of illness. In the inquest, the NHS Trust tried to claim Myles had capacity to make such decisions for himself.

Myles’ family have branded his death “unforgiveable” and called for this to be a watershed moment in how people with autism and learning disabilities are treated by the NHS.

Myles became unwell in late 2022, with shortness of breath and a blood clot in his leg. Although he took the medication he was prescribed every day, months later he was still unwell. While a consultant recommended changing his medication, Myles’ doctor presumed he was not taking his pills and opted against a change.

When Myles again suffered shortness of breath in March 2023, his GP surgery offered a telephone consultation - despite his issues with communication. He was not referred to A&E despite his struggle to breathe, and was not sent to hospital three days later when he saw his GP again.

Three weeks later, Myles collapsed and was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, where he later died from a pulmonary embolism.

His bereaved family are now pledging to push for change, so that tragedies like that involving their beloved Myles do not happen again.

Law firm Slater and Gordon acts for families nationally who have been impacted by poor standards of care, and is a passionate advocate for change.

“This is an utterly heartbreaking case where the death of Myles was completely avoidable, and had the professionals tasked with his care looked after him as they should have, this would never have happened. Truly, this is a tragedy,” says Jodie Cook, senior associate at Slater and Gordon in Yorkshire.

“It must routinely be the case that when people have advocates to speak and make decisions on their behalf, they are consulted – it is simply unacceptable that this does not happen. People with disabilities and additional needs must be given the care they need and deserve by the NHS, with appropriate support in place to enable this to happen. We support Myles’ family every step of the way in pushing for this, so that no person should ever suffer such a tragic experience again, and no family should be left grieving such a needless death.”