Decision Report 201608061

Summary

Mrs C complained on behalf of her daughter (Mrs A) about the care and treatment provided to Mrs A at Raigmore Hospital. In particular, she complained that the board had failed to provide reasonable care and treatment when Mrs A had first attended the breast clinic at Raigmore Hospital and that Mrs A's breast cancer, which was diagnosed a few years later, may have been present at the initial consultation. Mrs C also complained that the board had unreasonably delayed in carrying out genetic testing.

We took independent advice from a consultant breast surgeon. We found that the care and treatment provided to Mrs A had been reasonable and that there had been no delay in diagnosing Mrs A's breast cancer. We also found that there had been no missed opportunities by the board to have diagnosed the cancer earlier. We did not uphold this aspect of Mrs C's complaint.

We also found that there had been no indication for genetic testing when Mrs A first attended the breast clinic and that there had been no red flag criteria to prompt genetic testing at that time. As such, we did not uphold this part of Mrs C's complaint.