Suicide attempt

A Lord Ordinary has granted decree for damages to the family of a woman who died in hospital after an attempted suicide after ruling that clinical ...

Lord Arthurson said on causation: “In my view the deceased was foreseeably at risk of deterioration in respect of her psychiatric health following discharge. On that hypothesis of fact, Dr Vusikala was asked why, with his own knowledge of how the deceased had been in hospital as an inpatient, and with the knowledge that she was at home unsupported during the post-discharge period, he had indicated, as he accepted he had done, to CPN Hume that it was acceptable to postpone her appointment with CPN Hume to 11 October 2016. Further, the defenders had failed to arrange follow-up care with a CPN in the 24 days following her discharge, and but for this negligence it was highly likely that the deceased’s condition would not have deteriorated as rapidly as it did. Senior counsel for the defenders contended that there had been no evidence that the deceased had suffered a significant relapse after discharge. The case was heard by Lord Arthurson in the Outer House of the Court of Session. The defenders denied that causation had been established and argued that the court would be unable to express a view on what led to the suicide attempt.