Young Preesall man Nathan Roskell tragically died of effects of ketamine use, inquest hears

Nathan Roskell, who was known as Big Nath, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on his ward on November 14 2021.

The young groundworker had been admitted to the hospital on October 28 in 2021, with intense bladder pain and weight loss caused by his use of the drug.

The inquest, conducted by Victoria Davies, assistant coroner for Blackpool and Fylde, heard that some opportunities at the hospital to deal with his complex needs were missed as his condition deteriorated, although changes had since been implemented.

But Nathan’s bereaved dad Neil Roskell, of Preesall, said: "It’s no good saying now what should be done.

"He came to the hospital for help and didn’t come out.

"A lot has been missed by the medical profession.”

Nathan’s heart stopped because of lethal amounts of potassium in his body, caused by the massive damage to his kidneys, as well as his bladder and liver, by prolonged and recent ketamine use.

His official cause of death was acute kidney injury caused by his use of the drug.

The inquest heard that because Nathan had also tested positive for asymptomatic Covid-19, he ended up on a ward for elderly Covid patients, Ward 25.

But staff there were under huge pressure at the height of the pandemic and found if difficult to deal with the young patient, who was not always cooperative and would sometimes leave the ward to obtain ketamine to deal with his agonising pain, against advice but with staff unable to stop him.

Nathan would sometimes refuse to have a catheter fitted because it caused him pain, making it harder to treat him.

He was also referred to both gastro enterology and urology teams at the hospital but among all staff there was a lack of knowledge about the condition Nathan was suffering from, a condition known as ‘Ketamine bladder’.

The hearing was told that, despite Nathan’s dramatic weight loss in hospital, opportunities to monitor his food intake and involve a dietician were somehow missed, a plan to involve a specialist renal team was not followed up and a vital blood check on the day before he died wasn’t taken.

It also emerged that on the morning of his death medication, which was supposed to tackle the immediate risks of cardiac arrest due to high potassium levels, was signed for but not administered until he had actually suffered the attack.

CPR was quickly begun but was unable to save him.

Ms Davies’ finding were that Nathan died from acute and chronic complications of ketamine use.

After the hearing, Chris Barben, Medical Director at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said: “As a Trust we offer our deepest condolences to Nathan’s family.

“We fully accept the findings of the coroner and the conclusion that Nathan died from acute chronic complications of ketamine use.

“We have investigated this case to ensure we learn everything we can from it and improve our practices overall and this is an ongoing process.

"I can offer Nathan’s family, and the wider community in Blackpool and the Fylde Coast, assurances that the way we manage complex medical cases such as this has now changed and we continue to work with system partners to ensure clinical management plans are robust and well documented.”