Decision Report 201609400

Summary

Mrs C complained about the care and treatment provided to her late husband (Mr A) at Raigmore Hospital over a number of months leading up to his death. In particular, she said that his medical care was poor. Mrs C said that, despite his many illnesses and poor prognosis, Mr A underwent surgery which may have extended his life but that this was at the expense of his quality of life. She also raised concerns about the nursing care provided to Mr A and complained that the communication with herself and Mr A about his illnesses was not clear.

We took independent advice from a consultant surgeon and from a nurse. We found that Mr A's medical care and treatment had been in keeping with standard practice in Scotland. We found that his care had been fully discussed with him and that he had agreed to the treatments he was given. Accordingly, we did not uphold this aspect of Mrs C's complaint. Similarly, we did not uphold Mrs C's complaint about poor communication as there was evidence to show that matters had been fully discussed with Mr A and Mrs C. However, we found that Mr A's nursing care had not been reasonable as we found that the notes kept were poor and were not completed in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council code. We upheld this part of the complaint.

Recommendations

What we said should change to put things right in future:

• Documentation should be completed as required in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council code.

We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set.