Clinicians failed to properly engage with Chris Nota's mother Julia Hopper about his care, risk assessments and other safeguarding issues, the inquest heardThe mother of an autistic teenager who died days after he was discharged from a mental health unit said she fears more deaths will occur.
Since her son's death, Ms Hopper has campaigned with other bereaved families for better treatment for people with autism suffering mental health issues, and called for a statutory public inquiry into Essex mental health services. "I can't begin to describe the feeling [of being ignored by services] because it is like being in a horror movie, cut off from the person you love, who you know is suffering and who is very high risk," she said.It created an "added terror" knowing she had been "cut out" of sharing what she knew of her son's behaviours and feelings to those caring for him in hospital, she said.
He said there had been a "lack of autism-focused approach" to risk assessments and care planning and that safety concerns had not been shared by medical staff.Ms Hopper agreed that her son was failed by clinicians who did not understand his needs, behaviours or presentation as a person with autism. "We need far more stringent laws which will help us to enforce our rights as vulnerable patients and their carers at times of great risks," she said.