A prisoner at HMP Leeds died from blood cancer earlier this year less than two months after he was jailed there.
An independent investigation into the death of Craig McConnell, 38, was published this month by the acting Prisons Ombudsman. It found that while McConnell's condition hadn't been diagnosed when he died, his care was of a good standard, though his significant weight loss while at the prison was not monitored by staff.
McConnell was remanded in custody at HMP Leeds on March 7, charged with burglary and fraud. Before that, he had been taken to hospital following a drug overdose, and had spent time in a mental health hospital in January and February due to a history of mental health issues.
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He asked for pain relief in his first few days, saying he was injured from past falls. On March 11, a nurse noted that he was emaciated, and referred him to a psychiatrist as she thought he was showing signs of paranoia.
But when McConnell attended the session the next day, he left early as he wanted to only discuss his back pain. He continued to complain of the pain on March 24.
Four days later, he became unwell, with a raised heart rate, breathlessness and low blood oxygen levels. The possibility he could have sepsis was considered and an ambulance was called.
He was treated for sepsis in hospital and tested positive for coronavirus. Tests were carried out and found McConnell had an enlarged liver and spleen.
He was discharged on April 5 with the intention to do further tests at an appointment on April 21. However, on April 17, he became unwell again.
McConnell didn't want to go back to hospital initially, but eventually agreed to go when he started feeling worse. He was restrained as he was escorted to the hospital, where doctors thought he might have leukaemia, and his mother was contacted.
Sadly, he deteriorated very quickly early in the morning on April 22. His escort chain was removed when a nurse said he was expected to die within the hour.
He died around 8.30am that morning. His illness had not yet been diagnosed when he died - it was found from the post-mortem examination that he'd died of lymphoma.
Acting Prisons Ombudsman Kimberley Bingham concluded in her report that prison staff need to follow up on unexplained weight loss like McConnell's. A GP had recorded that his weight loss needed to be investigated back in January (this was never investigated), as he weighed just 60kg when he died - 18kg less than his weight in February 2021, and 15kg less than the weight recorded when he arrived in prison. The report, however, says the latter is noted to possibly be inaccurate.
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