Parkinson’s Patient Died After Carers Turned Of His Intercom.

An inquest was told that pensioner James Sheavills, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, died after his emergency intercom was cut off by carers. Carers claimed he used his intercom too much and council officials disconnected Mr Sheavills’s lifeline after he was labelled a nuisance and a time-waster. Four weeks later the 63 year old former professional footballer collapsed at his warden controlled sheltered flat and was unable to summon help.

His son found him dead kneeling by his bedside from where he would have previously been able to operate the intercom.

Coroner Christopher Dorries said the death of Mr Sheavills, who played as a winger for Barnsley in the 1960s, was ‘deeply disturbing’ and ‘wholly avoidable’. He said the lack of help given to Mr Sheavills amounted to ‘gross failure’ and recorded a verdict of death by natural causes contributed to by neglect. Mr Dorries added ‘I find it difficult to understand that in a modern society a gentleman with Mr Sheavills’s difficulties could have gone unrecognised for so long’

Mr Sheavills lived alone in his flat in Honeywell, Barnsley. He was given an intercom to allow him to contact a specialist call centre by pulling a cord. He also had a phone and would regularly contact the warden and ambulance service. Mr Sheavills had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease ten years ago but health professionals believed he merely had an anxiety disorder. They dismissed his behaviour as that of a lonely, manipulative elderly man instead of recognising the classic symptoms of the neurological condition.

Council housing officials disconnected his ‘lifeline’ after health workers claimed his calls were blocking the system. In September Mr Sheavills died from a blood clot in his lung and deep vein thrombosis, which is thought to have developed when he lay immobile for many hours after collapsing.

His daughter-in-law told the inquest in Sheffield ‘He was just passed from team to team and I feel he was let down. He was just put to one side, labelled a nuisance and left’. Mr Sheavills’s son Darren, said after the inquest: ‘If he had been cared for in a proper way, he would still be here today’.

Coroner Mr Dorries called on Barnsley Council and health officials to hold and inquiry.