Decision Report 201402883

Summary

Mrs C complained that her mother (Mrs A) had received inadequate medical supervision and nursing care whilst in Stobhill Hospital. Mrs C said there were not enough medical staff available on the rehabilitation ward Mrs A had been placed on and that Mrs A's consultant had been uninterested in her case. She said Mrs A had been fed inappropriate food, and treated without dignity or respect. Mrs C said the family had fought to have her discharged into their care and they were unhappy about the board's failure to take their complaint seriously. Mrs C noted that it had taken months for the board to produce minutes of the meeting held with the family to discuss the complaint.

Our investigation took independent medical and nursing advice. The medical advice noted that the specific complaints raised by Mrs C were mostly nursing issues. The level of clinical supervision was adequately documented, and showed regular and appropriate recordings of medical review. The nursing advice received was that the level of nursing care overall was reasonable, although the board had admitted there were deficits in the care. The nursing adviser suggested that the board should provide evidence of the actions taken to improve nursing care.

The board provided a comprehensive and detailed action plan, showing improvements to patient care following the complaint. We found that the board had apologised appropriately and taken reasonable steps to improve patient care, and that no further action would be appropriate.