NHRCK: "Four Patients Died at Psychiatric Hospital, with One Secluded in a Locked Room for 325 Days"

[Financial News] An investigation by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) found that four patients died in succession at a mental health medical institution during the first half of this year, while one patient lived for as long as 325 days in a room fitted with a lock. The NHRCK filed a complaint with the chief of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency against the hospital director on suspicion of occupational negligence resulting in death, unlawful confinement and ordering unlicensed medical practice.
The NHRCK said on the 6th that it had confirmed these findings through an ex officio investigation into illegal seclusion, restraint and deaths involving inpatients at a mental health medical institution. It also filed complaints against nursing assistants and care workers who secluded and restrained patients without a doctor's orders on suspicion of violating the Mental Health Welfare Act.
According to the NHRCK, four patients at the hospital were found in cardiac or respiratory arrest between January and June before dying. In some cases, no medical staff were present in the ward, or patients were not properly monitored.
A patient with an intellectual disability spent 325 days alone in a locked room before being found in cardiac and respiratory arrest in February. The patient suffocated to death while being transferred outside the hospital. An autistic patient was secluded for 200 days in a locked room for allegedly stealing another patient's coffee.
The NHRCK identified prolonged seclusion without a treatment or protective purpose, as well as the failure to keep related records, as problems. It also confirmed that the hospital director instructed nursing assistants and care workers to seclude and restrain patients without medical staff on duty every day from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following day. The NHRCK determined that this amounted to ordering them to perform unlicensed medical practice.
The NHRCK's investigation also found that the patients' freedom of communication had been restricted. The hospital had installed public telephones in only four of its eight closed wards and completely banned inpatients from possessing mobile phones. Phone use was also limited to once a week.
The NHRCK called on the head of the relevant Public Health Center to impose administrative sanctions, including suspension of operations, over the unlicensed medical practice. It also recommended that the Minister of Health and Welfare improve seclusion and restraint practices at mental health medical institutions. This was the first time the NHRCK had filed a complaint against relevant parties on confinement charges in connection with prolonged seclusion at a mental health medical institution and recommended consideration of administrative measures, such as suspension of operations or revocation of an establishment permit, over unlicensed medical practice.
[email protected] Seo Ji-yoon Reporter