Health board fined £60,000 over patient suicide
Vincent Mulsant took his own life at Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen
- Published
A health board has been fined £60,000 after safety failings led to a patient being able to take his own life in an Aberdeen hospital.
Vincent Mulsant died in March 2020 after the incident at Royal Cornhill Hospital's Huntly Ward.
Grampian Health Board admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Thursday, Sheriff Morag McLaughlin fined the health board, external, with an added victim surcharge of £4,500, which helps victim support organisations.
The health board failed to ensure the patient was not exposed to risks to his health and safety having been clinically assessed as being at significant risk of suicide or self-harm.
Sheriff McLaughlin said: "No size of penalty can adequately reflect or compensate for the loss suffered by Mr Mulsant’s family as a result of this tragic incident.
"They ought reasonably to have been able to assume that Mr Mulsant was safe from the risk that he otherwise posed to himself.
"It is difficult to comprehend fully the devastation they must have felt and must continue to feel at his loss, which was clearly preventable and the impact of which I can only begin to imagine."
'Significant impact'
She said she recognised the health board was not a commercial organisation, but added: "Clearly the offence cannot go unpunished.
"The penalty must suitably reflect the level of culpability and underline the importance, in particular in an organisation charged with protecting life and health, of the need to comply with Health and Safety Legislation and the protections it seeks to provide," she said.
The sheriff said the level of penalty had taken account of the "significant impact on provision of services that a fine will have" and potentially it could have been higher.
NHS Grampian said: "We apologise unreservedly for the failings which led to this tragic incident.
"Lessons have been learned and significant improvements made as a result. However, we remain deeply sorry to the family of Mr Mulsant for their loss."