The patient sought care at the psychiatric emergency department at a hospital in southern Sweden in the spring of 2022. There he was admitted and treated in a closed psychiatric intensive care unit for severe depression and anxiety.
But barely two days later, he was moved to another ward – where he committed suicide only days later, reports the Siren news agency.
Criticism on several points
The incident was reported to Ivo, the Inspectorate for Care and Care, and the authority is now criticizing the Region’s handling on several points.
In Ivo’s decision, they write that the care failed in its assessment of the patient’s suicide risk in connection with the move between the wards. They also believe that the follow-up of his mental health was insufficient – which is against the Health and Medical Care Act.
“There it appears that health care activities must be conducted so that the requirements for good care are met. This means that the care must particularly satisfy the patient’s need for security, continuity and safety,” the decision states.
The unit was alerted the same day
The report also states that the patient received possessions back in connection with the move, which were then used in the suicide. According to the complainant, the patient was alone in his room with the door closed, where he managed to take his own life before staff checked on him.
The decision states that a colleague of the man called the department the same day and expressed concern that he would kill himself. But the nurse in charge and the mental health nurse agreed that it contained no new information and chose not to document the conversation.
Ivo believes that if the move was seen as necessary, “careful and frequent assessments” of the man’s suicide risk would have been necessary to provide safe and secure care.