This month we published decision reports from 9 complaints investigated by the Ombudsman.
Sector breakdown:
- Health: 5
- Health and social care: 1
- Housing associations: 1
- Prisons: 1
- Scottish Government and Devolved Administration: 1
Outcomes:
- Fully upheld: 7
- Some upheld: 2
We made 23 recommendations to public bodies.
In one case we investigated, a patient underwent private treatment to correct their mesenteric ischaemia (restricted blood flow to the intestines). The patient had been discharged from their health board’s gastroenterology service with ongoing symptoms and sought a private diagnosis.
We found that the board should have considered mesenteric ischaemia as a strong possibility given the patient’s symptoms and that the decision to discharge them from the service was unreasonable.
We asked the board to apologise to the patient and reimburse them for the cost of their private treatment. While we do not offer compensation, we can ask a public body to reimburse an individual, returning them to the position they would have been in had the failure not occurred. You can find out more in our Redress Policy.
In another case, a parent raised concerns about a health and social care partnership’s handling of their child’s residential placement application.
While we found no failings in how the partnership handled the application, they failed to involve the child in the subsequent complaint process. All complaints should be handled in a manner that respects and promotes children’s rights, including seeking their consent for the complaint to proceed.
Our online Child Friendly Complaints training course is designed to support public service organisations handle complaints from and involving children and young people.
Find out more about how to handle complaints involving children.