SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Partly Upheld

Lothian NHS Board - Acute Division

201805373 · Health › clinical treatment / diagnosis · Decision date: 01 March 2020 · View NHS Lothian scorecard

Full Decision

Summary

Ms C complained about the nursing care she received at St John's Hospital during two separate admissions. Ms C had a complex medical history and was assessed by a range of clinical professionals during each admission. Ms C was unhappy with the way nurses behaved towards her and communicated with her.

We took independent advice from a registered nurse. We considered Ms C's account, staff statements and the clinical records available. Based on the evidence available, we were unable to establish that there had been failings in the way nursing staff behaved towards or communicated with Ms C. We did not find that the care provided was unreasonable and we did not uphold Ms C's complaints about care.

We also considered whether the board investigated and responded to Ms C's complaints appropriately. We did not identify failings in the level of investigation performed or the accuracy of the complaint response. However, we found that the board did not meet the timescales for issuing a response set out in the procedure. For this reason, we upheld this complaint. We were satisfied that the board had taken appropriate action to address this issue since the time of the complaint and we did not make any recommendations.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201805373 as a PDF (24.3 KB) Updated: March 18, 2020