The mother of a man who died of an accidental overdose after being left without care for months says her son “should be here” with his family.

James Southern, 41, died in May 2023 after being discharged from Highbury Hospital, a mental health unit in Nottingham run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

His mother, Norma Southern, spoke out after receiving a letter of apology following an inquest in October which highlighted “errors” in Mr Southern’s care.

The trust said it was working to address the issues raised by the coroner to improve its patients’ experience.

Mr Southern – known as Jimmy – had a history of mental illness and suffered from pain and anxiety after being injured in a motorbike accident in 2002.

An inquest was heard Nottinghamshire Healthcare should have assigned the father-of-three a care co-ordinator when he left hospital in September 2022, but it was not due to “errors in his records”.

The trust apologized following the inquiry but has since sent an apology to Mr Southern’s family “in black and white”, Ms Southern said.

The letter to his family, seen by the BBC, offered “sincere and sincere apologies for the mistakes that were made in the course of your son’s treatment which ultimately contributed to his death”.

While the letter gave Ms Southern some “relief”, the 67-year-old said her son should “be here today with (her) and his family”.

Mrs Southern said the family “knew something was wrong” before her son died and he sought help from the trust.

“There was no one to check on him three months before he died. It was not taken care of,” she said.

Mr. Southern left him “so much life” before his death, his mother said.

The 41-year-old was engaged and had plans with his fiancee and his family had “never seen him so happy”.

He was supposed to get married on December 4, but instead, on that day, his loved ones will commemorate him.

“He wasn’t just someone who was known to have a mental health disorder, there were many other sides to Jimmy,” Ms Southern said.

“He loved motorcycles, cars, quad biking, ax throwing. He loved his children very much and was a very proud grandfather.”

“If those deficiencies can be fixed – if it saves one more family from going through what I went through, that will be worth it to me because it was awful,” she added.

Records have been modified

Disciplinary proceedings were launched against a doctor after it emerged Mr Southern’s records had been altered after his death.

The matter has been referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

An NMC spokesman said he could not share any information.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare came under scrutiny following the 2023 Nottingham attacks.

A review published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in August found “a number of errors, omissions and misjudgments” in the care of Valdo Calocane.

Other issues involving the trust include the death of a patient at high-security psychiatric hospital Rampton Hospital – which was rated inadequate earlier this year – and the dismissal of staff for serious misconduct at Highbury Hospital.

Diane Hull, chief executive of Nursing, AHPs and quality at Nottinghamshire Healthcare, said: “On behalf of the trust, I once again offer our sincere condolences and apologies to James’ family and friends for their loss.

“We recognize that there were aspects of the care given to James that were not up to the standard that our patients deserve and for that we are truly sorry.

“When we became aware of the changes to clinical records, we referred the clinician involved to their regulator, the NMC, and commenced a disciplinary process.

We are working to address the other issues raised by the coroner to improve the patient experience now and in the future.

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