Britons shocked by video of nurse turning off quadriplegic’s life-support system

Jamie Merrett, paralyzed from the neck down, was so worried about the quality of nursing care he was receiving at home that he had a camera set up in his room to monitor the activity around him.

The Englishman’s worst fears were realized when the camera recorded his nurse switching off his life-support system, apparently by accident, then fumbling to revive him while he lay helpless in bed. Merrett, 37, is now brain-damaged.

On Monday, that grainy footage was broadcast on national television, shocking Britons and adding to the catalog of medical horror stories that have left many here bemoaning the state of the nation’s vaunted National Health Service, or NHS.

Health officials have apologized to Merrett’s family for the incident, which occurred in January 2009 but was not publicized until the BBC aired the disturbing video Monday.

“His life is completely changed. He doesn’t have a life now,” Merrett’s sister, Karren Reynolds, told the broadcaster. “He has an existence, but it’s nowhere near what it was before.”

Merrett was injured in a traffic accident in 2002. Though paralyzed, he was able to speak and operate an electric wheelchair and a computer through voice-activated technology, the BBC reported.

While being cared for at home in southwestern England, Merrett apparently grew concerned over possible slip-ups with his ventilator by nurses sent by his local health authority, part of the NHS, so he arranged to have a camera installed near his bed.

Days later, the camera caught a nurse, identified by the BBC as Violetta Aylward, turning off the life-support system while another caregiver cries, “What’ve you done?” The BBC said it took 21 minutes before paramedics were able to get all the equipment properly running again. Merrett’s sister says his mental age is now that of a child.

The local health authority said in a statement Monday that it had taken measures to ensure “such an event will not occur again either for this patient or others.” It declined to go into further details about what happened to Merrett because “litigation is likely.”

The incident comes as the government prepares a major restructuring of the NHS, including granting doctors more power over spending decisions. Although the agency has been protected from funding cutbacks in the government’s stinging austerity program, critics say the changes will not improve care.

henry.chu@latimes.com