Mr Stone-Houghton’s mental health declined in the pandemic as the jewellery business he ran was forced to close, and in July 2022 he tried to take his own life.<\/p>\n
He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and placed on a psychiatric ward at St James’ Hospital in Portsmouth, run by what was the Solent NHS Trust.<\/p>\n
During this time he did not engage in conversations with staff and was reluctant to take medication, said Dr Eleanor Lucas \u2013 a consultant psychiatrist who managed his crisis care in the community and visited him in hospital.<\/p>\n
At the start of August, Mr Stone-Houghton was discharged from St James’ Hospital. Documents accompanying this decision said he’d been “engaging well with staff”, taking his medication and was considered low-risk, the inquest heard.<\/p>\n
Dr Lucas described this as “inaccurate reporting”, and that when she saw him in the days following he did not appear to be “100% well”.<\/p>\n
The inquest heard that Dr Lucas twice asked for Mr Stone-Houghton to have early intervention for psychosis treatment, but this was denied, with the plan being for the family to alert the service if they noted signs of relapse.<\/p>\n
No formal carer’s assessment had been carried out for Ms Stone-Houghton, who looked after her husband. Dr Lucas said the family had been supported at ongoing meetings.<\/p>\n
The inquest continues.<\/p>\n