Decision report 201004885

Summary
Mrs C's son, Mr A, was admitted to hospital in October 2010 with abdominal pain and vomiting. He was taken to theatre the following day where a laparotomy (a surgical procedure involving a large incision through the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity) was performed. He was discharged five days later but re-admitted the next day with clostridium difficile and diarrhoea.

Mrs C complained that therere had been a delay in carrying out the operation and that the decision to discharge Mr A on the day he was discharged was inappropriate. She also complained that staff had not taken reasonable action to prevent Mr A from contracting clostridium difficile. We sought advice from our clinical advisers and it was decided that there was no delay in taking Mr A to theatre; the discharge on the day in question was appropriate; and that there was no evidence that Mr A was suffering fron clostridium difficile on discharge from the hospital.