Decision Report 201304311

Summary

Mr C was unhappy with the care and treatment he received when he attended A&E at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He said that NHS 24 had told him to attend a primary care service next to A&E, and an appointment had been made for him to be seen just under two hours later. He cancelled this, however, and instead called an ambulance to take him to A&E. He said the care and treatment he received was unreasonable, that a senior charge nurse had assessed him as only being 'in some discomfort' and he was escorted from A&E to the primary care department.

We obtained Mr C's medical records and after taking independent advice from one of our medical advisers, who is a hospital doctor, we did not uphold the complaint. We found that staff had accurately assessed Mr C's pain and discomfort, had correctly followed their triage policy (triage is the process of deciding which patients should be treated first, based on how sick or seriously injured they are) and referred him appropriately to the primary care department.