A Chatham mother grieving the suicide of her son is upset with the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSO) after receiving a decision to her complaint filed against a Chatham psychiatrist looking after her son at the Chatham hospital.
Leonie VanPuymbroeck said she had a gut feeling this would happen and calls the decision "a slap on the wrist" because the doctor was only advised by the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee to improve his medical record keeping, notes, and communication. In the decision, the CPSO admitted the doctor has a recurring pattern of miscommunication, adding the doctor's history of prior complaints to the College "is not significant" nor did they require any action.
"I'm surprised the health care profession doesn't take notes because notes are what everybody relies on," VanPuymbroeck said. "People should be held accountable and I don't think this (decision) did that. This letter shows he doesn't think he did anything wrong and needs to do better."
Her son, Robert Martin, was hospitalized for 10 days and discharged in late January and the family blames the psychiatrist for their son’s suicide two months later. The family alleges the doctor didn’t provide adequate care for the man and released him from the hospital too early, allowing their son to walk home alone when he was released.
Martin was involuntary admitted due to psychosis.
The Committee said it was unable to determine from the records whether the patient was released from the unit to walk home or whether there was a plan in place for him to be picked up from the hospital following his discharge and won't take any action regarding this concern.
VanPuymbroeck told CK News Today she believes the investigators didn't have all of the information needed to arrive at a proper decision.
CK News Today is not naming the psychiatrist because this CPSO decision won't be available on his public record, something that bothers VanPuymbroeck because she said other patients won't know about the doctor's past complaints and that's why she shared her story.
"I think they (psychiatrists) are burnt out, but a loved one shouldn't have to pay for that. You still have to be compassionate," she said.
VanPuymbroeck vows to keep fighting to improve the system.
VanPuymbroeck said she hasn't decided on an appeal yet and is going to talk to a lawyer first.
She also accuses the doctor of speaking in an unprofessional manner and alleges he dismissed her concern regarding ongoing support after the hospital discharge, something disputed by the doctor.
"The Committee is faced with opposing recollections of the interaction between the Complainant and the Respondent, and there is no way to know what exactly was said or the tone of those interactions," the CPSO decision read.
VanPuymbroeck also said her son wanted a new psychiatrist during his admission, but the doctor told the Committee he was not aware of the request.
"The Committee is dismayed by his response. Ultimately, this suggests that the Respondent’s review of the charting may not have been as comprehensive as the Committee would expect in the circumstances. It difficult for the Committee to determine what occurred based on a review of the written record alone. Medical record-keeping by the Respondent does not fully elucidate his assessment of the Patient’s mental status, risk, disposition, or thinking," said the College. "It is difficult to tell from the notes that there was a clinical decision below standard, but the documentation also makes it hard to see how some of the Respondent’s plans were made."