Injured whilst in psychiatric hospital

At the time of writing (February 2022) there was no independent authority charged with investigating injuries or even deaths whilst in psychiatric care. This situation can be extremely frustrating when: -

• The death was violent or via suicide;
• The actual cause of death was classed as “unknown”; or
• The death occurred whilst the patient was on leave from the psychiatric hospital or mental health institution.

When a loved one is injured or dies in a psychiatric hospital, the conclusion drawn by the family is to blame the staff or owner. Although that is a natural assumption, it is not always the case. However, the ultimate responsibility for your loved one’s safety rests with the hospital.

 

You should appoint ourselves, or a solicitor as soon as possible so that staff can be interviewed while the matter is fresh in their minds.

There may be circumstances where the death is of shared responsibility, the situation may be: -

• The patient was given wrongly labelled medication;
• Patients, medical equipment was faulty; or
• The patient died in the care of agency staff.

If you have been bereaved in this way, you are entitled to expert representation throughout this process. Whether you have not been offered an inquest, or require legal advice as part of the process, our caseworkers can support you.

 

Duty of Care

The psychiatric hospital has a “Duty of Care” to its residents. That means it is responsible for ensuring that its patients are protected from abuse and harm. Management is responsible for making sure nurses, technicians, and staff are fully trained in every aspect of their responsibilities. Furthermore, the hospital is responsible for ensuring they hire enough personnel with the right qualifications and/or experience to safeguard and care for the residents so that no neglect of its residents occurs. Therefore, even in the case of self-inflicted injury or death, rape or abuse by other patients, staff, or vendors, the hospital bears the majority of blame through their duty of care responsibilities.

 

How we can help

We can represent you should you wish to launch an inquest into the death in the home (known as an article 2 inquest), your caseworker would assist your legal team by: -

• Collating statements;
• Checking the staffing arrangements and staff members qualifications; and
• Commission independent reports from medical (and possibly other) experts.

The reports will help your caseworker and legal team find out exactly what happened. As an interested person, you will be able to ask questions at the inquest.

 

If the results of the inquest are unsatisfactory, or further evidence has been revealed, it is possible to appeal that within a time limit. We can advise you on whether your appeal is valid. Should that not be the case, you can still challenge the inquest by judicial review. This does not have the same limits. We can guide you on which suits your case and prepare and represent you throughout the proceedings. To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.

 

Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.