Decision Report 201406688

Summary

Mrs C complained that when she was admitted to the Western Infirmary with increasing shortness of breath and a productive cough (a cough that produces mucus and phlegm), she was assessed by a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) who said that she could be discharged home that day under the Early Supported Discharge (ESD) service. Mrs C had concerns that she was not fit for discharge and she remained in hospital until she was further assessed by a doctor as being fit for discharge. Mrs C was transferred to Gartnavel General Hospital prior to her discharge home. Mrs C complained that the CNS should not have assessed her as being fit for discharge and that when she arrived at Gartnavel Hospital her portable oxygen cylinder was found to be not working. She said that it must not have been checked at the Western Infirmary.

We took independent advice from our nursing adviser and found that the CNS was an appropriate health professional who was qualified to assess Mrs C and that her decision that Mrs C was fit for discharge, further to medical review, was appropriate. We made no finding on the complaint as to whether the oxygen cylinder was working on discharge from the Western Infirmary as there was no substantive evidence to establish when the oxygen cylinder stopped working. This may have occurred at the time Mrs C was being taken from the Western General or in transit during the hospital transfer.