A coroner has ruled a mentally ill man did not receive the best medical care before he died.

Andrew Morris, 56, who had a long history of mental illness as well as serious physical problems, died at Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Mr Morris, who lived at the YMCA, in Portslade, was admitted to Millview Hospital, Hove, in October last year after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

When his physical condition began to deteriorate he was moved to the Nevill Hospital, also in Hove, which specialises in treating older people with mental health conditions, before being transferred to the RSCH where he died on December 6.

An inquest last week was told his mother, Eileen, age 82, voiced concerns following her son's death about the way he was treated.

She wrote to the Brighton and Hove Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley claiming staff at the Nevill did not appear to be able to deal with her son's complex needs and there had been repeated incidents of "negligence."

The inquest was told Mr Morris suffered from bi-polar disorder as well as heart disease and chronic pulmonary disease.

When he was admitted to the RSCH, three days before he died, he had just developed the skin infection cellulitis. He later went into septic shock, developed pneumonia and had a cardiac arrest. The cause of death was aspiration pneumonia and multi-organ failure.

After hearing evidence from medical staff at all three hospitals the coroner adjourned the hearing until yesterday (wed) to give her verdict.

She told the hearing at Brighton County Court: "I fear that this is a case where this patient overall was given sub-optimal treatment and was poorly managed.

"I find from the evidence there was a failure to appreciate the seriousness of his increasing shortness of breath, confusion and his reduced mobility."

The coroner also said there had been "very little continuity" in his medical care.

The coroner recorded a narrative verdict that Mr Morris died of sepsis arising from pneumonia and cellulitis in circumstances where his increasing ill-health was not recognised and to which self-neglect contributed.

After the hearing a spokeswoman from Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “Sussex Partnership has extended its sympathies to Mrs. Morris over this very distressing period. Having carefully reviewed the care provided, we are confident that staff followed the protocols which are in place and that the care provided to Mr. Morris was appropriate to his needs.

“We have listened very carefully to all the evidence heard at this inquest and we will be looking again to see if there are lessons we can learn to improve our services.”