NHS trust declined care for vulnerable Black patient days before he died in police custody

An NHS trust declined to provide care for a vulnerable Black man days before he died in police custody while having a psychotic episode, The Independent has learnt.

Godrick Osei, 35, died after being restrained by up to seven Devon and Cornwall Police officers in the early hours of 3 July 2022, after fleeing his flat and hiding in the cupboard of a care home in Truro.

His family said he had been expressing “paranoid thoughts” and had called the police himself for help. He was arrested and died within an hour.

Mr Osei had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, had suspected post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was prescribed various medications to treat these conditions. He also intermittently used illicit drugs and had suffered alleged sexual assault in prison around 2013, according to a medical report from North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT).

In the days before his death, Mr Osei was in the care of NELFT’s community mental health team, whose caseworkers were concerned that he was exhibiting signs of a further severe illness – emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) – and was a high risk to himself.

However, Mr Osei was based outside the team’s catchment area, and NELFT asked the neighbouring Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CPT) to assess him instead.

CPT refused without explaining why, according to a medical report seen by The Independent.

Following Mr Osei’s death, an investigating officer from NELFT made multiple attempts to contact CPT to explore the possibility of a joint investigation into the matter, but didn’t receive a response.

“Given his deteriorating mental health, hallucinations, and intermittent use of his medication, how likely would it have been for him to call the crisis team at a time of crisis? There was no evidence this was considered by the West Cornwall Home Treatments team,” the report states.

A coroner is reviewing the case to determine the cause of Mr Osei’s death, as his post-mortem examination was inconclusive.

When approached for comment in relation to Mr Osei’s case, a CPT spokesperson said: “The circumstances of his death will be subject to review by the coroner. It would not be appropriate for us to comment further until this process has concluded.”

A NELFT spokesperson said: “Our duty to maintain patient confidentiality means we are unable to share details of the care provided to Mr Osei. We are committed to the ongoing improvement of the services we provide, and have followed our internal processes to identify and address any areas of learning and improvement.”

It comes as new draft guidance from NHS England calls for mental health trusts to set out a number of new initiatives, under the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework, aimed at combatting systemic racism.

In the hours leading up to his death, Mr Osei was experiencing “paranoid thoughts” symptomatic of a psychotic episode, and had fled his partner’s flat, entered a nearby care home, and hidden in a cupboard, from where he called the police asking for help.

Offers attended and he was arrested, but he died within an hour. The case is being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

After viewing police body-worn camera footage of the incident, Mr Osei’s family spoke out about their concerns, believing that he appeared fearful and was in a state of distress. He was calling for help and telling officers that he had done nothing wrong, they said.

There was a mistaken belief among the officers who arrived at the scene that Mr Osei had a knife, despite no evidence of this, it is understood.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Mr Osei’s younger sisters Maryann and Lewison said the family was reeling from his death and called for answers about the circumstances that led to the tragedy.

“There are so many cases like what happened to my brother, and no one seems to care,” Lewison said. “He needed help. Our brother should not have died that day.”

None of the officers involved in the incident have been suspended or made subject to an investigation.

Despite Mr Osei’s earlier pleas for help and his vulnerability, no de-escalation attempts were made. Instead, officers forced entry to the cupboard and a number of them restrained Mr Osei in the small space he was hiding in, according to Inquest, the charity supporting Mr Osei’s family.

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said the force was supporting the officers involved, who were being treated as witnesses in the IOPC investigation.

The IOPC said its investigation was progressing, adding: “At this stage, there is no indication that any of the officers involved may have breached police professional standards or committed a criminal offence, a decision that is regularly reviewed.”