Psychiatry Aargau psychiatric services warned after the death of an 18-year-old
The Psychiatric Services Aargau (PDAG) have been warned by the cantonal health department following two supervisory proceedings. One case concerned the treatment of an 18-year-old patient with autism who died from self-inflicted injuries.
04.07.2024, 10:49
SDA
The supervisory proceedings have been concluded, the Aargau Department of Health and Social Affairs (DGS) announced on Thursday. It concerned a case from December 2020, when an 18-year-old autistic patient in the care of the psychiatric ward repeatedly injured himself by deliberately falling.
On December 30, 2020, PDAG staff found the patient unconscious, whereupon he was transferred to hospital by helicopter. There, he succumbed to his self-inflicted injuries a few days later, as the DGS writes.
For the supervisory proceedings, the diagnosis, treatment and medication were investigated and external expert opinions were obtained. These revealed that 1:1 care would have been necessary on the day of the accident or that the patient should even have been restrained.
The DGS found that the autistic patient's potential for self-harm had been incorrectly assessed. Psychiatry was exonerated of other allegations. "There is no evidence that the patient's treatment was inadequate up to the day of the accident," writes the DGS.
Nine-month deadline
The PDAG must present a concept within nine months as to how patients can be better protected in future. The DGS also issued a warning in a second case involving a young patient. In addition, a process and organizational analysis was carried out, which identified various "organizational and procedural deficiencies".
Some of the findings had already been incorporated into improvement measures. Here too, a deadline of nine months has been set for a concept for further optimization, it said.
