Two nurses have been struck off after a patient whose condition was deteriorating took his own life.
Iorwerth John and Martin Pettitt worked at Worthing Assessment and Treatment Service (ATS) as community mental health nurses.
The man, named only as patient A, took his life in November 2018.
Mr John was working as patient A’s lead practitioner at the time, while Mr Pettitt was a registered nurse on the duty rota.
In a misconduct hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), a panel found that Mr John and Mr Pettitt did not review or update patient A’s risk assessment from August to November 2018, despite his condition deteriorating.
The panel heard evidence from Patient A’s sister, the team leader for the ATS at the time and the consultant psychiatrist who provided a report for the coroner at the time, among others.
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Patient A, who was considered vulnerable, was on an anti-psychotic medication called clozapine.
Mr John was told patient A was smoking, but did not liaise with him or inform him about the impact smoking would have on the effectiveness of his medication.
Before going on leave that October, Mr John did not provide an adequate handover or make colleagues aware of the recent deterioration in Patient A’s mental health.
The panel also heard that Mr Pettitt sent patient A to Shepherd House, an inpatient recovery unit in Worthing, to have his blood taken at a time when he was not able to.
Mr Pettitt also "failed to take appropriate action" after not being able to get in contact with Patient A on November 2 and November 5.
Additionally, he provided incorrect information in patient A’s notes, which was a breach of his "duty of candour" as a nurse.
These were some of a string of charges against the pair.
One witness, an independent nursing and healthcare services consultant who provided a report for the NMC, said: “There were a number of serious failings of clinical interventions by not correctly planning a relevant care pathway and monitoring the care of Patient A. Because of these failures within the care intervention package, it was an act of clinical negligence and this was a breach of duty.
“It is my opinion that had mental health examinations and risk assessments been completed and acted upon and correct patient observation linked with a more positive, robust, supervised community care package for all aspects of Patient A presenting mental health problems taken place, on the balance of probability the tragic event would have been avoided.”
After the hearing by the NMC, which concluded on June 21, both nurses were struck off the register, meaning they can no longer work as registered nurses.
The striking-off order will take effect after 18 months, during which time an interim suspension order is in place to cover any appeal period.
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