NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde fined £235,000 over death of man at Dykebar Hospital in Paisley

A health board has been fined £235,000 over the death of a dad-of-four who took his own life at a Renfrewshire hospital.

The 36-year-old man died at Dykebar Hospital in Paisley on 22 January 2020, two days after being admitted to the mental health facility.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) failed to ensure ligature points within the building had been "sufficiently risk assessed", which led to the death of the patient in their care.

COPFS said had the health board implemented all reasonably practical measures "they could have prevented him from taking his own life in the way he did".

On Monday, NHSGGC was fined £235,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of health and safety regulations between 1 January and 23 March 2020.

Paisley Sheriff Court was told an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that some of the fixtures and fittings on the south ward were not of an anti-ligature design.

HSE also found failures by NHSGGC to ensure that the existing ligature points within the hospital were suitably and sufficiently risk assessed.

Following the patient's death, remedial work got under way but the failings continued until 23 March 2020.

NHSGGC was said to have managed the existing ligature risks by placing at-risk patients on "enhanced" observations by nursing staff.

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Debbie Carroll, lead of health and safety investigations for COPFS, said: "NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had a duty to keep their patient safe.

"Had they implemented all reasonably practicable measures they could have prevented him from taking his own life in the way he did.

"Their failure to ensure that ligature points within the hospital were suitably and sufficiently risk assessed and that patients were not exposed to those ligature points led to the death of a man in their care.

"This prosecution should remind duty holders that a failure to manage and implement effective measures can have fatal consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure."

A spokesperson for the health board said: "We would once again offer our sincere sympathy to this patient's family and friends for their loss.

"NHSGGC has identified and commenced a programme of work to remove ligature points.

"Completion of this work was impacted by COVID and by the demands on services however it continues and, working within the context of current operational service demands, is being managed to completion."