Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Accused Psychiatrist Admits Mistakes

From the North West Evening Mail out of the UK

The former head of the mental health ward at West Cumberland Hospital has admitted failures in his treatment of a patient who took a fatal overdose of painkillers.

Psychiatrist Dr Peter Fisher, 46, is accused of the manslaughter of handyman Peter Weighman.

At Carlisle Crown Court he accepted a lack of care which led to the death, but denies gross negligence.

He told the court yesterday that he was “devastated” about the death of the 39-year-old who took 50 Copraxamol tablets after suffering depression when his marriage broke down.

Fisher, of Cullompton, Devon, was in charge of the mental health ward at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven when Mr Weighman died on September 22, 2002.

He was appointed to the hospital’s on-call night rota within a month of joining as a locum doctor, despite not being registered with the General Medical Council.

On learning of the overdose, Fisher took advice from an A&E doctor who told him taking just 10 tablets of the painkiller could cause serious difficulties.

He later awoke the patient to take a blood sample and found him “difficult to rouse”.

He was satisfied that the patient was in a stable condition and was in his opinion sleeping off the overdose. He recommended “no further action necessary”.

Within hours Mr Weighman’s health deteriorated rapidly and he died the following morning.

Fisher said he readily took the blame for a number of failures in Mr Weighman’s treatment.

He told the court: “I was devastated about his death. The nurses and myself were expecting him to fully recover.

“For his condition to change was a terrible tragedy. “There were certainly failures and I have to accept some were my responsibility.”

He said he was at fault for not seeing Mr Weighman within two hours of his overdose to check the facts person ally.

He also conceded he did not make himself clear to the nurses on duty about the need for regular observation.

Fisher was appointed by the North Cumbria Mental Health and Learning and Disabilit ies NHS Trust while disciplinary proceedings were active in New Zealand, where the defendant had worked between 1992 and 2002. The Medical Council of New Zealand ruled on August 15, 2002 that Fisher needed “structural and intensive supervision” from a consultant working alongside him.

Fisher told the court he did not think it was relevant to mention the recommendations to his new employer in Cumbria.

He said: “I was already effectively under super vision from a senior consultant.”

He also did not believe it was important to tell the GMC about the proceed ings when applying for the restoration of his

registration, which he voluntarily gave up in 1996 when leaving the UK.

Fisher said he was “surprised” when he was put on the on-call rota despite the hospital knowing of his lack of GMC registration, but said they were happy as long as he did not exceed his duty. Fisher denies man slaughter through gross negligence.

The hearing continues today.

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