Decision report 201102605

Summary

Mrs C complained that her late father (Mr A) received inadequate care and treatment while he was a hospital in-patient. Mrs C said that a nurse refused to help Mr A (who had limited mobility due to a stroke) to the toilet and then provided him with a used urinal bottle, which was also difficult for Mr A to manage. Mrs C also said that alert buzzers were inaccessible. She complained that the board had not robustly investigated her complaint to minimise the risk of this happening again, and that the remedial action they took was inadequate.

We took advice from our nursing adviser, who reviewed the records and Mrs C’s complaint. We noted that the complaint had not followed the board’s formal complaints procedure, which is normally a requirement before we can consider a complaint. However, in this case, we decided to accept the complaint and waive that requirement, as we are entitled to where we consider the circumstances make it appropriate to do so.

As part of our investigation we obtained additional information from the board about the level of service Mr A received at the hospital. We also carefully considered all the documents and advice related to Mrs C’s concerns. We found no direct evidence to support Mrs C’s concerns. We were also satisfied that the board investigated Mrs C’s complaint thoroughly and in good time and arrived at an evidence based conclusion. We noted that the local management team had implemented changes over the past year and considered these appropriate in relation to the concerns Mrs C raised.