Multi-Disciplinary Teamwork: The Coroner

4.Multi-Disciplinary Teamwork:
Summary: This factor is another crucial part of the Coroner’s report which highlights the affect of multi-disciplinary teamwork on building an auxiliary environment in order to provide long term care needs to people suffering from mental health illness. This involves the partnership of client along with the family and dedicated professionals, thus enabling a well harmonized and calculated intervention to effectively meet everyone’s needs. According to Shaklee, Bigby and Wall (2012) multi-disciplinary teamwork can not only boost service delivery but also enhance cordial family relations.
Criticism: The criticism stated in the Coroner’s report with reference to multi disciplinary team work in Liam and Charlie’s
case is justified. During their stay at the hospital not even once did a case management meeting happen to discuss their well being. It is pertinent to mention here that there had been lack of communication on the part of the hospital staff as well. Despite having useful knowledge about Liam’s condition, the staff overlooked and mis communicated information to the seniors, while in Charlie’s case, who was actively engaged in external services, knowledge to the hospital staff from the external services could have proved valuable. Further, both the patients were themselves never consulted in the course of discussion by the hospital staff regarding treatment or future treatment planning. Moreover, when the families opted to provide important information regarding their children, it was renounced by the staff.

4. Family and Carers Role:
Summary: The Coroner’s report lastly highlights the influence on family and carers on the treatment and care of the patient.
According to Meadows et al (2012), family members are the best source of providing knowledge about their loved ones including the symptoms they witness, the effect of the environment, their experiences and any such information that may help to cure and treat them effectively. The importance of family inclusion in the treatment process has far reaching effects since it can point out early warning signs. Kean (2009) further argues about the significance of a family support system and advocating the role of the families of people with mental illness as highly beneficial and imperative. It must be mentioned here that many families are reluctant to help in the treatment process and require client permission before any decision
making.
Criticism: As per the Coroner’s Report, Liam’s and Charlie’s families have no doubt been very supportive throughout the whole treatment process. They had always kept an eye on all treatment options along with raising objections unfavourable ones including the decision related to moving wards and early discharge of their sons. The closeness of this relation can be gauged from the fact that Liam was constantly expressing suicidal thoughts to his family while doing vice versa to the staff. Similarly, Charlie had also revealed suicidal ideations to his sibling when he arrived at the hospital. But unfortunately, the ignorance and disinterest of this important knowledge by professional of such high calibre led to the untimely death of Liam and Charlie.

CONCLUSION:

In this review I have discussed the Coroner’s report on “An Inquest into the deaths of Liam John Wright and Charles Michael Powell”.
This comprehensive report covers several points like the lack of continuity of care, dearth of mental state assessment, absence of suicide risk assessment/ management and deficiency of multi disciplinary teamwork. I feel that while it is right for family members to be of utmost importance to health care professionals in diagnosis of patients, but does not overrule the fact that this information should be treated with due importance. Moreover, wrong decision making regarding the removal of the patients from the ward or their early discharge is also another important negligence on the part of the hospital staff. This can be attributed to the paucity of hospital beds. According to Meadows et al. (2012) the duration of hospital stays are becoming shorter nowadays since there is a shortage of inpatient beds in the hospitals. Further development and discussion of this issue of shortage of beds is needed maybe by introducing a fully staffed bedded ward at the Logan Hospital, thereby avoiding such unpleasant scenarios in the
future.