Visits made to patient before he died listed
February 29th, 2008, 8:05 pm Hobbies News
Kenneth Keen, 37, who had a history of mental illness and diabetes, died alone in his Invercargill flat in 2006 in what coroner Trevor Savage said was an avoidable death.
Mr Savages inquest findings early this week said mental health provider Pact Group had entered into an agreement with its contractor, the Southland District Health Board, and Mr Keens family to visit him three times a day at the flat for seven hours in total each day.
Pact staff visited Mr Keen just once in mid-morning on the day he died from a combination of illnesses.
Mr Savage said if Mr Keen had been visited in the afternoon or evening he would have exhibited obvious symptoms and medical treatment may saved his life.
Documents obtained by The Southland Times show Pact staff visited Mr Keen the required three times a day on just eight days out of 47 days before his death.
They did not visit him at all on one day, they visited him once on 15 days and twice on 23 days.
Visits were often for a few minutes at a time and never totalled seven hours a day, the coroner found early this week.
A document, written by a Pact boss, said Mr Keen had told a community support worker he was being too intensely supervised and there were occasions he didnt want a second or third visit. Staff had acceded to his request for greater independence, the correspondence said.
%26quot;Notwithstanding this it is evident there were three occasions on (the day he died and the day after) which Ken was not visited due to unforeseen staffing difficulties,%26quot; the document says.
%26quot;Had these been identified at the time they would have been managed differently to ensure a staff member was available to visit if required.%26quot; The Pact correspondence said it was evident some staff needed to revise existing Pact policies and procedures regarding client file structures and documentation, and this had been attended to.
%26quot;Pacts practices in these two areas have been reviewed to ensure that future incidents do not arise which compromise client care,%26quot; the correspondence says.
Pact Group chief executive Louise Carr did not answer Southland Times questions e-mailed to her yesterday.
Southland District Health Board interim chief executive Brian Rousseau said yesterday the board was happy to meet with Mr Keens parents, Violet and Neville Keen, to discuss any further concerns but he would not be making further public comment.
Mr and Mrs Keen this week called on the district health board to explain, saying mental health patients and their families in Southland had a right to know what had been done following their sons death, so they could be assured the same thing would not happen again.
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