Health board is fined £100K after bin liner deaths horror
A GLASGOW health board has been fined £100,000 after two patients suffocated themselves with bin liners while under constant observations.
Kenneth McRae, 44, and 27-year-old Louise Docherty were admitted to hospital with mental health issues and took their own lives when out of sight of medics.
They were both assessed as “a high risk of self harm and absconding”.
Medical student Mr McRae was found under his covers in his bed at Stobhill Hospital with a bin liner over his head in September 2012.
Mum-of-two Miss Docherty was in Dykebar Hospital in March 2014 when the senior charge nurse discovered her behind the door of her toilet with the plastic bag.
Since the incidents, the decision was made to remove small bin liners from patients’ rooms and en suites.
Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board pleaded guilty at the city’s sheriff court to flouting health and safety by failing to properly carry out observations which lead to the two tragic deaths.
Sheriff Bill Totten fined the organisation £100,000 reduced from £140,000 after admitting the failings.
He said: “In this case the plea of guilty by Greater Glasgow Health Board recognises that the deaths were avoidable and accepts responsibility for the defects which lead to them.”
The court heard Mr McRae had to give up his medical studies before his final year because of his mental health.
His sister and brother-in-law visited him on September 1, 2012, and before leaving found him to be “quite unwell”.
Procurator fiscal depute Catriona Dow said Mr McRae was seen at 11.40pm on that day by a staff member.
He was noted to be “alert but not engaging” and around midnight the member of staff carrying out constant observations saw only part of his body from outside the room.
Miss Dow added: “From her position in the corridor outside Mr McRae’s room, her view was restricted to the lower part of Mr McRae’s body.”
A short time later Mr McRae was found under the bed covers with a bin liner around his head.
Miss Docherty was being treated in hospital after becoming unwell following the birth of her sons in 2011. She was described as a much loved mother, sister and daughter.
There was a deterioration in her mental state in March 2014 and while in Dykebar Hospital, in Paisley, she went to the toilet in her bedroom while the senior charge nurse took a phone call nearby.
When the staff member returned minutes later to allow Miss Docherty to speak to her social worker on the phone there was no response from the toilet and Louise was blocking the door.
The court heard that “had constant observations been properly implemented neither Kenneth McRae nor Louise Docherty would have been able to use a bin liner without being seen or heard”.
The health board said: “We fully accept the findings.
“We have already put in place improvement plans within our in-patient care areas to minimise the risk of similar occurrences in the future.
“We have previously apologised to the families but will be writing to them again reiterating this.”