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Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

P-002318 · Statement · Decision date: 10 November 2023 · View Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust scorecard
Complaint (AI summary)
Mrs A alleged the Trust failed to prevent her mother from falling and did not manage her personal hygiene adequately, causing distress to the family.
Outcome (AI summary)
The complaint was closed as the Trust agreed to apologize, explain what happened, and demonstrate lessons learned and service improvements.

Full decision details

The Complaint

4. Mrs A complains that between 23 September and 14 December 2022 the Trust did not stop her mother from falling because staff did not help her in and out of bed. She also complains it did not manage her personal hygiene and welfare to an acceptable standard.

5. Mrs A says this left the family feeling upset and not properly informed. She wants a sincere apology, evidence of lessons learned and service improvements.

Background

6. Mrs I was an inpatient for three months at the Trust. During this time, she had falls and problems with her mobility. Her family say sometimes when they visited and her personal hygiene had not been managed, she was left in a distressed state and in unacceptable pain.

Findings

8. Our Principles say we expect organisations to acknowledge mistakes and apologise for the impact these had. We also expect organisations to take action to learn and improve from mistakes. The Trust has agreed to apologise to Mrs A and give her the information she wants to resolve her complaint. It has also agreed to write an action plan to explain what it has learned and the changes it will make. Mrs A has agreed that it will resolve her complaint if the Trust takes these steps. We are pleased we can help Mrs A to get the outcomes she wanted to address her complaint. We hope this gives her some peace of mind and reassurance.

Our Decision

1. We have carefully considered Mrs A’s complaint about the Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to hear about the care and treatment her mother, Mrs I, experienced as an inpatient and the pain and distress these events caused her and the family.

2. Mrs A wants the Trust to apologise for and explain what happened, to learn from it and show what improvements it has made.

3. The Trust has agreed to take these actions and we are satisfied this resolves the complaint.

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