Psychiatrist fired following patient death

In England, the psychiatric doctor at the center of criticism following the death of a Whitehaven family man has since been sacked from his job at the West Cumberland Hospital. Dr Peter Fisher was suspended after having been employed as a locum at West Cumberland Hospital from August until October 2002. Peter Weighman died in the West Cumberland Hospital's Yewdale Ward 12 months ago after taking an overdose of tablets with the intention of taking his own life.

Both the Mental Health Trust and the North Cumbria Acute NHS Trust carried out an internal inquiry into all the circumstances surrounding Peter Weighman's death. Relevant parts of it were read to the inquest.

In relation to Dr Fisher, one of the inquiry conclusions was: There were unreasonable omissions on the part of both the on-call staff grade psychiatrist (and nursing staff) to respond appropriately to the patient's needs� One of the general findings was that certain aspects of Mr Weighman's medical care fell below acceptable levels and that a decision to care for him in the psychiatry ward rather than a medical ward was clinically flawed.