An inquest in July 2025 found that Myles Scriven’s death was the result of multiple missed opportunities to save his life. Staff at Calderdale Royal Hospital and his GP practice, Dalton Surgery in Huddersfield missed multiple opportunities to save his life before Myles died from a blood clot in his chest, which the hearing found was entirely treatable.

In a report which was highly critical of Myles’ care West Yorkshire coroner Crispin Oliver said that medical staff at both the GP practice and the hospital were ‘blind’ to the needs of their patient, who had learning disabilities along with autism, and failed to make the necessary adjustments.

Myles’ family, supported by Chris Gresswell-Green , Director and medical negligence expert at Switalskis, are determined to get answers and ensure improvements are made to protect other patients. Chris has written to NHS executives at both Calderdale Royal Hospital and Dalton Surgery to establish what improvements have been made to ensure similar failings can never happen again.

Myles’ uncle, Lord Paul Scriven, a Liberal Democrat peer and the party’s spokesman on health in the House of Lords, is supporting the move to guarantee improvements in care at both Calderdale Royal Hospital and the GP practice. He has described his nephew’s death as a potential ‘watershed moment’ in how people with disabilities are treated in the NHS.

Chris said, “Myles’ death was a tragedy that his family are still coming to terms with but they are determined to ensure that no stone is left unturned to establish what went wrong and to make sure that it cannot happen to anyone else.

“Losing a loved one in such circumstances is difficult enough but then to learn that his death was avoidable and the result of his learning disabilities and needs not being taken in to account has been extremely difficult for his loved ones to understand and process.

“We have now written to NHS Resolution to begin legal proceedings on behalf of the family and as part of that, we are urging the NHS to provide reassurance to the family that all necessary improvements at both the Calderdale Royal Hospital and the GP practice have been identified and actioned.”

What happened: multiple missed opportunities to save Myles’ life

In August 2022, Myles, aged just 31, began to feel unwell. He was experiencing shortness of breath and a Deep Vein Thrombosis, or blood clot, in his leg. He was prescribed blood thinning medicine called Rivaroxaban by Calderdale Royal Hospital. However, even though he took one of the pills every day, his condition did not improve and he remained ill.

He was seen by a Consultant, who asked for advice from a Consultant specialist in Haematology at the Calderdale Royal Hospital who recommended moving Myles onto a different medication, a blood thinner known as Warfarin. However, prior to discharge, a Consultant Respiratory Physician overruled the recommendation to change the medication, saying that Myles would struggle with compliance due to his learning disability and autism. Myles remained on Rivaroxaban and an inquest into Myles’ death later found this to be a breach of duty of care.

By March 2023, Myles’ breathing problems reoccurred. Despite his clear limitations with communicating with other people, he was only given a telephone consultation by his GPs, Dr Khokhar and Dr Martland, rather than the urgent face-to-face assessment he needed.

Despite his continued breathing issues, Myles wasn’t referred to A&E as he should have been after the telephone consultation. Three days later, he attended his GP for an in-person consultation but again, wasn’t sent to hospital or any appropriate tests taken despite having two previous clots: one on his leg and one in his lungs.

Just weeks later, on 16 April 2023, Myles’ condition worsened and he collapsed. He called an ambulance and was rushed to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Tragically however, Myles went into cardiac arrest whilst in the care of the ambulance service. Despite resuscitation attempts by paramedics, he remained in cardiac arrest through to his arrival at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, where he died. He was later found to have suffered a pulmonary embolism.

‘Blind’ to his needs: a coroner’s damning assessment of Myles’ care

At the inquest held in July 2025, GP expert Dr. Hykin confirmed that Myles’ symptoms and condition in March 2023 should have led to a hospital referral. Professor Hunt, Consultant in Thrombosis and Haemostasis also told the coroner that had Myles been referred to hospital, he would have been treated for his condition and, on the balance of probabilities, survived.

In a highly critical assessment of the care Myles received, the Coroner Mr Oliver said medical staff had been ‘blind’ to Myles’ particular needs and his care for someone with a learning disability seemed from “another era” and issued a Regulation 28 Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Dalton Surgery and the hospital Trust.

Why this matters

Myles’ case highlights what can happen when the needs of patients with learning disabilities and autism are not fully understood or respected. His death was found to be avoidable, and his family are determined that lessons must be learned.

At Switalskis, we are urging the NHS to go beyond words of sympathy and demonstrate what practical steps have been taken to improve patient safety. This means showing families like Myles’ that systems have changed, staff are better supported, and that the same mistakes cannot be repeated.

By being open about the improvements made, the NHS has an opportunity to rebuild trust and provide reassurance to patients, families, and the wider public that avoidable tragedies like Myles’ will not happen again.