Decision Report 201300849

Summary

Ms C complained that when her late uncle (Mr A) was a patient in hospital, staff failed to provide him with appropriate care for his pressure sore area and that pressure ulcers developed that affected his deteriorating condition.

As part of our investigation we took independent advice from our nursing adviser. The adviser said that the nursing notes showed that staff arranged for Mr A to be regularly turned, ordered a special air mattress to prevent the development of pressure ulcers, and applied cream. All of these measures were reasonable and considered good practice to prevent the development of pressure ulcers. When Mr A's general condition deteriorated, however, his skin started to break down. We did not uphold the complaint, as we found that staff assessed and monitored the situation appropriately. They took reasonable steps to prevent Mr A's skin from deteriorating and there was no evidence of any failure in the standard of nursing care provided.