Health

Complaint about Lothian NHS Board - complaint was from a man (referred to in this report as Mr C) who complained that the treatment and care his 81 year-old mother (Mrs C) received in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) in November and December 2003 was inadequate and contributed to her death on 26 December 2003.

Complaint about Lothian NHS Board.

Complaint about Tayside NHS Board -complaint was from a man (referred to in this report as Mr C) who complained that there were failures in the treatment and care of his 17 year-old son (referred to in this report as F) provided by NHS Tayside (or their predecessor organisation) between October 1989 and December 1998 and that these failures may have contributed to F’s death on 25 December 1998. Mr C also complained about the poor handling of his complaint by NHS Tayside.

Ayrshire and Arran Primary Care NHS Trust

The complainant, Mrs C, had concerns about the management of her pregnancy and labour by St John’s Hospital, Livingston in 1998/9. After some delay it was decided that the baby should be delivered by emergency caesarean section and following further delay her son was born in poor condition. He was transferred to another hospital for intensive care later that day and died on 16 May 1999.

This complaint was from a Mr C felt that there was an unreasonable delay in diagnosing his wife’s cancer; and that her postoperative management was inadequate.

The complainant, Mr C, experienced problems with his left shoulder. Following a referral by his General Practitioner (GP), Mr C was seen by a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon (Consultant 1). The complaint subject to investigation was that Consultant 1’s clinical management of Mr C’s condition was inadequate, including that he failed to arrange appropriate radiological examination. Furthermore, that Consultant 1 recommended inappropriate treatment, leading to a delayed diagnosis by which time it was too late to consider operative repair of the tendons.

Mrs C’s son Stewart was born on 28 January 1980 at the Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion, Edinburgh. He had a condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebro-spinal-fluid within cavities inside the brain and was transferred to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh where he was under the care of a Consultant Paediatrician. Stewart died on 6 February 1980. During 2000 and 2001 there was extensive publicity about organ retention. As a result Mrs C became anxious that organs might have been retained following Stewart’s death. She made enquiries of the Trust but remained unhappy about their responses

The complainant (Mr C) received treatment and regular check-ups from his Dentist (Dentist 1) over a four year period from the end of 1996 until March 2001. He returned to the Dental Practice in November 2001 and was told by a different Dentist that he had bad gum disease. Mr C was shocked by this as he said Dentist 1 never told him that he had a problem with gum disease. Mr C complained via the local Primary Care NHS Trust but he was dissatisfied with the response. An Independent Review Panel considered his complaint and concluded that he had experienced an acute episode of his periodontal condition (gum disease) towards the end of 2001 which caused a rapid deterioration of his oral condition. The Panel also concluded that this could not be attributed to any lack of care provided by Dentist 1.

The complaint provided by Mr C was that in November 2000 his mother, Mrs C, had a blood test arranged by GP 1 which indicated a slight abnormality in her kidney function. She had a history of hypertension and leg oedema. No monitoring or follow up tests were arranged. Mrs C did not see a GP again until 17 July 2002 when a home visit from GP 2 was arranged. A blood sample was taken and the results showned an abnormality. On GP 2's advice, Mrs C stopped taking her medication and further blood tests were aranged. On 23 July another home visit was requested. Another GP (GP 3) attended and arranged an emergency admission to hospital for Mrs C. She died in hospital later that day.