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| When is a hospital responsible for the suicide of a patient under Article 2 ECHR?
The duties of care to patients in the acute and mental health sector have just been extended.
*In a Judgment that expressly applies to mental health patients, but which is intended to apply to all patients and residents in the acute sector, the House of Lords said:
1. Under Article 2, all hospitals have an over arching obligation to protect the lives of patients.
2. Hospitals must employ competent staff that are trained to a high professional standard.
3. Hospitals must adopt systems of work which will protect the lives of patients.
4. There must be a new “operational” obligation on hospitals and their staff.
This arises where staff know, or ought to know, that a particular patient presents a “real and immediate” risk of suicide. In such a situation, they must do all they reasonably can to prevent the patient from committing suicide.
One of the Law Lords, with whom the others agreed, said that Article 2 should apply to all patients and that the Article 2 obligation applied to all health bodies and staff. Whilst the context is a mental health patient who absconded from hospital and committed suicide, (it was found that the precautions taken by the hospital were inadequate), the majority of the Law Lords appeared to intend this test to apply to all patients in both the mental health and acute sectors. Hospitals must check their procedures to ensure their policies comply with this ruling.
For further information please contact Ashley Irons.
*Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Trust
House of Lords, 10 Dec 2008
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