Psychiatrist Accused of Endangering the Public

As seen in this report from the Cornish Guardian, a psychiatrist is accused of endangering the public. From our own observations of reports here, we must say that there does seem to be a streak of evil within psychiatry where psychiatrists place their own interests above public safety and the care of patients. While this trait does not infect all psychiatrists (there are some good doctors out there), this is a disturbing trend

A psychiatrist accused of failing to arrange emergency care for a dangerous schizophrenic days before he killed a neighbour has appeared before the General Medical Council (GMC).

Dr Howard James is said to have ignored letters expressing concern from the patient's GP and psychiatric team after he was caught flashing at neighbours and starting fires outside his home.

Dr James is also said to have failed to visit the patient - Mr A - at his home or arrange an assessment while under his care at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital.

Days after Dr James received the letter from Mr A's GP, the drug addict killed his neighbour in a vicious attack. He was later sectioned after being convicted of manslaughter.

In January 2001, Mr A was convicted of dangerous driving and Dr James was asked to write a psychiatric report. Thanks to Dr James' assessment, Mr A was put on probation for a year, provided he underwent supervised treatment with Dr James. However, Mr A soon began to miss appointments.

In April 2001, Mr A's probation officer wrote to Dr James for an update which he did not reply to, it is claimed. Four months later, Mr A's new probation officer also requested an update. Dr James wrote back saying he was hard to get hold of.

In November 2001, Mr A's community psychiatric nurse wrote to Dr James saying he had not seen the patient for three months - the GMC says the letter was ignored. Mr A's GP, Dr Brian Pollard, wrote to Dr James on May 1, 2002, expressing concern that he had not seen the man for nine months and had not issued any medication for seven months.

Selva Ramasamy, representing the GMC said: "By this time it's clear that Mr A's condition was deteriorating. His neighbours had seen him flashing and he was starting fires in the courtyard.

"He [Dr James] did not call Dr Pollard for clarification. He did not alert other members of the team. He did not arrange an emergency mental health assessment. He did not make a visit to Mr A's home.

"He failed to recognise the situation as a psychiatric emergency and failed to record any plan of action.

"Things were left to lie and tragically on May 12, Mr A attacked and killed a neighbour 11 days after the GP wrote a letter to James expressing his concerns."

Cambridge-educated Dr James admits the majority of the charges but denies ignoring the letter from Mr A's original probation officer. He denies not replying to a letter from Mr A's community psychiatric nurse and not alerting other members of the team.

He further denies failing to recognise the situation as an emergency and failing to make a record of an action plan. He also denies failing to bring up Mr A's situation during a team meeting just before the killing.

James denies his actions were unprofessional and denies misconduct. The hearing continues today.