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Decision Report 201600930

  • Case ref:
    201600930
  • Date:
    December 2017
  • Body:
    Highland NHS Board
  • Sector:
    Health
  • Outcome:
    Not upheld, no recommendations
  • Subject:
    communication / staff attitude / dignity / confidentiality

Summary

Mr C complained on behalf of his wife (Mrs A) about the behaviour of a consultant psychiatrist towards Mrs A at an appointment at Braeside Day Centre. Mr C also complained about the way the board had handled complaints that Mrs A had raised.

We found that the psychiatrist's account of what happened at the appointment differed from Mr C and Mrs A's account. There were no independent parties present at the appointment. In the absence of any independent evidence, we could not prove what was said at the appointment. This meant that we could not reach a finding on this part of Mr C's complaint and, therefore, we did not uphold this aspect of the complaint.

We found that the board's handling of Mrs A's complaints was reasonable, and that their response letter to Mrs A was also reasonable. We did not uphold this part of Mr C's complaint.

Updated: March 13, 2018