Another of Lionel Desmond’s mental healthcare professionals says she didn’t have the information she needed to properly support the veteran’s treatment.
Helen Luedee appeared before the Desmond Fatality Inquiry in Port Hawkesbury Wednesday, she was contracted by Veterans’ Affairs Canada as a clinical care manager to help Desmond navigate his treatment.
Luedee told the inquiry she never got the details of Desmond’s background or treatment, instead her information came from conversations with the case manager and Desmond himself.
“I still don’t have the complete picture about how extensive some of those complex issues may have affected and impacted Lionel.”
Luedee says she should have had access to the detailed, written treatment plan for Desmond’s care.
She says that may have changed her conversations with Desmond leading up to, and the day before, he killed his wife, mother, daughter, and then himself in their Upper Big Tracadie home in 2017.
“When you learn afterwards that there is additional information that could be pertinent to your interactions with an individual, of course it’s only human nature to go back and say, ‘well, what if?'” she says. “‘What if you would have had that information?'”
Luedee says she couldn’t follow his treatment plan without access to it.
