Decision Report 201404546

Summary

Mr C, who works for an advocacy agency, complained on behalf of Mr A about the care and treatment provided to him by his psychiatrist. Mr A's community care package initially included him receiving night visits from care staff but these were discontinued due to his non-compliant behaviour. He was subsequently detained in hospital for a period. Mr C complained that Mr A's psychiatrist had not provided him with sufficient support in the community and that this had led to his hospital detention. In particular, he complained that the psychiatrist did not take adequate steps to try to have Mr A's overnight support reinstated. He also complained about the care Mr A received while in hospital and raised concerns that there was not an appropriate care plan in place throughout his admission.

We took independent advice from a psychiatrist who considered that the actions taken by Mr A's psychiatrist were reasonable in the circumstances. The adviser noted that there was disagreement among the wider team regarding how best to manage Mr A's care and that, even if the psychiatrist had done more, there was no guarantee that this would have helped prevent Mr A's hospitalisation. We therefore could not conclude that the psychiatrist unreasonably contributed to Mr A's hospital admission. We were also advised that that there was an adequate care plan in place during Mr A's hospital admission, although it was noted that this was not always successful in engaging him. We did not uphold either aspect of the complaint.