The Trust gave Mr T inadequate care and treatment for his obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). His psychiatrist also failed to respond to information his mother, Mrs T sent to her. Mrs T said the stress of the experience affected her and her family, and denied her son having a more fulfilling life.
What happened
Mr T had a history of interactions with local mental health services. He had been diagnosed as having OCD and mixed anxiety and depressive disorder. He first had private treatment but later saw NHS staff at the Trust and tried different types of therapy. Mrs T was unhappy with the care that staff at the Trust were giving to her son, Mr T. When his symptoms seemed to be getting worse Mrs T did not feel that his psychiatrist did enough to help him get better. She believed Mr T needed additional therapy. She later found that the psychiatrist had failed to write up a summary of a review appointment she and her son had attended. This was sent to her son's GP over a year after the event and she felt that it did not show how concerned his family had been at the time.
Mrs T complained that there was a lack of care when the psychiatrist failed to respond to the information she sent her. She wanted the Trust to recognise and apologise for its errors and the impact they had on her family.
What we found
We did not uphold this complaint. The psychiatrist and her colleagues cared for Mr T in line with the relevant guidelines. We were critical that the psychiatrist did not make a record of the review appointment until much later and also that she failed to answer letters from Mrs T. However, we noted that the Trust had already accepted these failings, apologised for them and taken action to try to make sure they were not repeated.
South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Essex