Hospital negligence leads to womans suicide
Clinical Negligence News : 20 June 2012
A woman who suffered from episodes of severe depression has committed suicide by stepping in the path of a train. The woman, who had required hospitalisation, was admitted to a Psychiatric Unit and granted unlimited escorted leave with staff, her parents or her partner. Whilst in hospital, she was also given antidepressant medication and received appropriate psychiatric therapy.
The woman became agitated in hospital and consequently her depression levels increased. Her consultant was informed that her condition had deteriorated and that she had been experiencing more suicidal thoughts. However, despite the worsening of her condition, she was encouraged to leave hospital and spend the weekend at home with her partner.
Over the weekend at home, she told her partner that she felt worse than ever and remained in her bed. She said that she wanted to be dead and was consumed with thoughts of jumping from a bridge. The woman was assessed by a member of the Home Treatment Team and it was recommended that due to her state, the woman should remain in the constant company of her partner at all times until she returned to the hospital.
The woman returned to the hospital unit the next day and was assessed by a doctor who she told that she planned to throw herself in front of a train. By the next day, her suicial thoughts had grown increasingly worse.
The activites coordinator was misinformed the following morning however when she was told by a nurse that the patients condition had not changed in severity. The coordinator was encouraged to take the woman on escorted leave, but once outside, the woman departed secretly and committed suicide by stepping in front of a train.
The hospital trust admitted full liability and acknowledged that the outcome would have been different had the woman been prevented from leaving her unit. The case was settled out of court for a total of £450,000.