Decision Report 201602519

Summary

Mr C complained about delays in being seen by the gastroenterology (medicine of the digestive system) department at the New Victoria Hospital. He considered that there was an unreasonable delay in contacting him after he was referred by his GP and that the board's communication in relation to appointments was insufficient. Mr C complained to the board but remained dissatisfied and brought his concerns to us for further investigation. Mr C considered that the board's handling of his complaints was unreasonable.

After taking independent advice from a consultant gastroenterologist, we upheld Mr C's complaints about delay and communication. We found that the 12 week waiting time target had been far exceeded and that communication about this was unreasonable. The board acknowledged these failings and apologised during their own consideration of the complaints.

We did not uphold Mr C's complaint that his concerns had been handled unreasonably by the board. We found the board had offered appropriate apologies and looked at ways to improve the service going forwards.

Recommendations

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

• Patients should be advised in a timely manner that they may not be seen within waiting time targets.

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.