Decision report 201103418

Summary
Mrs C complained that medical staff delayed in diagnosing her son’s appendicitis. She said that this left him in severe pain and distress. We investigated the complaint and took specialist medical advice. Although it did take some time for appendicitis to be diagnosed, the advice we received was that that there were good reasons for this. Mrs C’s son’s clinical history and his signs and symptoms were not those of classical appendicitis. We found that it was appropriate for staff to consider other potential diagnoses. We also found that staff carried out appropriate investigations during that time, and that there was no delay in taking Mrs C's son to theatre after the results of a scan were reviewed.